Dissertations / Theses: 'Analysis of Language Varieties'

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Lingemyr, Jesper. "English Varieties in Swedish Upper Secondary School : An analysis of Listening Exercises in Swedish National Tests." Thesis, Högskolan i Gävle, Engelska, 2017. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:hig:diva-23579.

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The purpose of this project was to find out what varieties of English that Swedish upper secondary school students are exposed to in the classroom and to what extent they are exposed to different varieties. This was conducted by looking at preparation exercises for the listening part of the Swedish National Tests. These exercises are created by Göteborgs Universitet and are available online for everyone and show how the real national test will be done. By listening and analyzing every speaker’s variety they were sorted into British, American, Mid-Atlantic, Australian or New Zealand varieties. A total of 91 speakers were analyzed and the results showed that Students are exposed to mostly British English with half of the speakers using a British variety. One fourth of the speakers used American English while the rest were divided into Mid-Atlantic, Australian or New Zealand varieties.

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Eggert, Björn. "Global English and Listening Materials : A Textbook Analysis." Thesis, Karlstad University, Karlstad University, Karlstad University, 2009. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:kau:diva-4040.

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This paper focuses on listening materials used in English language teaching in Sweden, especially in respect to the concept of global English. Global English could briefly be described as the linguistic, cultural, politic, and economic influence of English in the world. This influence concerns two aspects of English, namely the usage of English as a lingua franca in international communications, as well as the great range of English varieties that are used today. The purpose of this research is to study how varied listening materials are and how, when and why they are used in the classrooms. I conducted a two-part investigation to study these matters. The first part of the investigation focuses on teachers’ usage of listening materials and is based on a questionnaire handed out to five teachers. I found that the teachers varied much in their usage of listening materials. In the second part of the investigation I compare the listening materials provided by two Swedish textbooks on English, one from 1994 and one from 2003. Here I focus on the speakers’ varieties, rate of delivery, and instructions given for listening exercises. I found that both books featured a majority of speakers from the British Isles and America, and very few non-native speakers. The more recent book featured a larger degree of varieties outside the areas of Britain and the USA, as well as a larger degree of American English when dividing the varieties by the time these were spoken. RP (Received Pronunciation) and GA (General American) were also less dominating in the textbook from 2003. The rate of delivery was generally slower in the older textbook. The results from this investigation suggest that some changes seem to have occurred between the publishing of the two books. However, a focus on English as a lingua franca, where the aim is proficiency in efficient cross cultural communication rather than in the English spoken by native speakers, does not seem to have influenced the textbooks studied here. It is difficult to appreciate whether or not changes like these have taken hold in Swedish classrooms, as teachers use many different listening materials and in many different ways.

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Christiansen, Martha Sidury Juarez Lopez. "Facebook as Transnational Space: Language and Identity among 1.5 and Second Generation Mexicans in Chicago." The Ohio State University, 2013. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1366196872.

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Hoare, Rachel. "Attitudes towards language varieties in Brittany." Thesis, University of the West of England, Bristol, 1999. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.297908.

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This thesis investigates the attitudes of young people in Brittany (aged 8-18) towards varieties of language (especially Breton) and the link between language and identity. The sociolinguistic situation in Brittany (past and present) is outlined, and previous research on language attitudes is reviewed. In phase 1 of the project, different informants completed a written questionnaire (470 respondents) and a Matched Guise Test (258 listener-judges), the latter involving Breton, Breton-accented French and Standard-accented French. The questionnaire responses revealed a strong correlation, verified by chi-square tests, between levels of use of Breton and perceptions of identity. Although those respondents from the traditionally Bretonspeaking western part of Brittany (Basse Bretagne) were keen for the language to be preserved, very few were willing to contribute to this process. The respondents from traditionally non Breton-speaking eastern Brittany (Haute Bretagne) were less positive in their views on the future of Breton. The least favourable ratings for the future of Breton were expressed by 15 to 16 year old males, and this was attributed to differences between male and female peer group norms. Breton emerged very favourably from the Matched Guise Test with positive ratings for both status and solidarity traits (a distinction identified by factor analysis of the data). Further breakdown and analysis of the results for the two regions revealed major differences in the evaluation of Breton in Basse and Haute Bretagne, which were attributed to the perceptions of Breton as either Li or L2 by different informant groups. These differing perceptions of Breton further complicated the relationship between the varieties, which may have contributed to the unexpected downgrading of Standardaccented French in terms of status in several cases. The 13-14 year olds perceivedBreton-accented French as the most statusful of the three varieties, a reaction which was attributed to the typical use and positive reinforcement of non-standard speech forms by this age group. In phase 2, 62 informants from western Brittany participated in interviews (based on the questionnaire, administered previously to other respondents), and pair-discussions of the MGT recordings. The overall picture provided by the interviews indicated that although informants expressed a keen interest in improving their competence in Breton, they did not support initiatives designed to encourage this such as the compulsory teaching of Breton in schools. This finding, which supported that of the questionnaire, gave rise to the distinction between the passive and active expression of attitudes. The interviews also revealed the complexity of the relationship between language and identity, with the informants' assertions that Breton identity was more strongly related to origin and residence than competence in Breton. This apparent contradiction between perceptions of the role played by language in determining identity, and the reality of the informants' responses concerning use, appeared to be operating at the subconscious level. The pair-discussions revealed that age was a central aspect of identity which had not yet been investigated in the current project, and which provided an explanation for the different attitudes towards Breton speakers in the MGT: there was an equal division between those who considered them to be young L2 speakers and those who assumed them to be old native speakers of Breton. This aspect of identity also played a key role in the construction of profiles for each guise which gave typical reactions to each guise in order to highlight patterns running through the discourse data. The combination of different methods in the current study was designed to elicit different insights into attitudes and perceptions of identity in the data.

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Padgett, Erin. "Tools for Assessing Relatedness in Understudied Language Varieties| A Survey of Mixtec Varieties in Western Oaxaca, Mexico." Thesis, The University of North Dakota, 2017. http://pqdtopen.proquest.com/#viewpdf?dispub=10607121.

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This thesis presents findings of research conducted on the relatedness of seven Mixtec varieties spoken in indigenous language communities in western Oaxaca, Mexico. Mixtec varieties vary widely from one community to the next, and it is necessary to determine the relatedness of Mixtec varieties in order to best serve the language development needs of communities. Understanding the relatedness of these varieties is also an important step in measuring their intelligibility.

I used three research tools to gather data: a General Wordlist, a Tone Wordlist, and a Sociolinguistic Questionnaire. I present five analyses: percentage of phonologically similar forms, displaying phonological correspondences using isoglosses, two analyses of tone patterns, and reported intelligibility. Taken together, the first four analyses provide a clear picture of the linguistic relations of the Mixtec varieties studied. The analyses of tone and use of isoglosses are of particular note, as they present new strategies for analyzing unstudied tonal languages and language families. Findings on linguistic relatedness are then compared to the reported intelligibility of native speakers from the Questionnaire. With minor exceptions, the proposed relatedness matches up closely with intelligibility reported by survey participants.

I then clarify how preexisting linguistic designations for this region could be improved, based on my findings. The Ethnologue currently includes all seven of the language varieties surveyed under a single designation, but my findings show that it is necessary to list YUC in a separate designation from the other six communities. The Instituto Nacional de Lenguas Indígenas (INALI, National Institute of Indigenous Languages) needs to revise its current designations so that YUC is left under its current designation, the mixteco del oeste alto (High Western Mixtec), while all of the six varieties surveyed should be under the mixteco del oeste (Western Mixtec) designation.

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Fristedt, Emma. "Irish loanwords in English varieties." Thesis, Högskolan i Halmstad, Akademin för lärande, humaniora och samhälle, 2015. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:hh:diva-27603.

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This essay will discuss and research the width and frequency of Irish loanwords in contemporary English varieties. The meanings, uses, differences, similarities and collocations of selected words will be discussed and analyzed in order to find answers to the research questions asked. The methods used are quantitative and qualitative research methods. The quantitative method will measure the frequency of the selected words in each of the selected varieties and the qualitative method will discuss the meanings and uses of the words in the different varieties. Each word has its own section which discuss meanings, developments and instances in which the words can be found in the different varieties. These sections are summarized at the end of the essay and the conclusion states that Irish loanwords in contemporary English varieties are not greatly widespread compared to the frequency of the same words in Irish English. A few of the words have been able to develop their meaning and use through time, but most instances of the words show the original meaning and use.

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Kurz, Claudia. "Function words and simplification in contact varieties of German /." The Ohio State University, 1998. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1487949150071939.

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Ebarb, Kristopher J. "Tone and variation in Idakho and other Luhya varieties." Thesis, Indiana University, 2014. http://pqdtopen.proquest.com/#viewpdf?dispub=3640905.

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Bantu languages commonly signal tense, aspect, mood, polarity, and clause-type distinctions with tonal as well as segmental cues. The inflectional tonal melodies on verbs may be viewed as underlyingly floating H tones (henceforth `melodic Hs') contributed by the morpho-syntax that are assigned by rule to different positions within the verb. Along with a small set of construction specific tonal adjustment rules, the number and position of melodic Hs distinguish one tonal melody from another.

The present dissertation makes two contributions to the study of the special role that tone plays in Bantu verbal morpho-syntax. First, it contributes extensive novel documentation of the verbal tone system of Idakho: a variety of the Luhya cluster of Bantu languages spoken near Lake Victoria in western Kenya and eastern Uganda. Second, I show how aspects of the Idakho system and that of other Luhya varieties like it have contributed to the development of rich diversity within the verbal tone systems of Luhya.

Part I comprises the descriptive component of the dissertation and emphasizes the impact of several factors known to influence verb tone in Bantu. Because many language consultants contributed to the project, the dissertation makes note of variation within and across speakers of Idakho. In Part II, I demonstrate the role that a preference for prosodically well-cued morphological boundaries has played in two striking tonal developments within the Luhya macrolanguage: the loss of a lexical tonal contrast reconstructed to Proto-Bantu and the introduction of tonal melodies in constructions for which there is no historical precedence for tonal inflection.

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Schmiedtova, Barbara. "At the same time ... the expression of simultaneity in learner varieties /." Berlin ; New York : Mouton de Gruyter, 2004. http://site.ebrary.com/id/10197197.

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Wilk, Emilie. "Native Speakers' Attitudes toward Regional Varieties of Arabic." Scholarship @ Claremont, 2017. http://scholarship.claremont.edu/scripps_theses/1048.

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This thesis investigates attitudes toward different regional varieties of Arabic and how native speakers perceive their own dialect vis-à-vis others. Building from previous research in the field, this study specifically seeks to learn which dialects are preferred, which are seen as being nearest to Standard Arabic (fuṣḥā), and whether there is a correlation between masculinity and fuṣḥā. The results of a two-part sociolinguistic questionnaire, distributed to 44 participants, suggest that many native Arabic speakers have overall positive attitudes about their own dialects, though this is often complicated by factors of prestige and gender. When asked directly which dialect they believed to be most similar to fuṣḥā, many participants list Arabian Peninsula varieties, yet when asked more indirectly the majority of participants indicate their own dialect is nearest to fuṣḥā. Finally, the proposed relationship between masculinity and fuṣḥā, suggested but never substantiated by earlier studies, proves to be epiphenomenal here.

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Almegren, Afnan. "Saudi EFL learners' awareness of world Englishes : second language varieties." Thesis, University of Aberdeen, 2017. http://digitool.abdn.ac.uk:80/webclient/DeliveryManager?pid=232282.

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It is important to understand the attitudes of students towards varieties of English so that better pedagogical and educational policies can be created and adopted. This study therefore attempts to investigate the attitudes of young Saudi EFL learners towards the concept of World Englishes in the context of their culture. The preference of Saudi learners for one variety of English over the others is also explored. Research on the awareness of World Englishes among Saudi EFL learners is limited; this study is designed to fill this gap. For the purpose of this research, three objectives were formulated – to understand how World Englishes, and second language varieties in particular, are perceived in the Saudi Arabian context by EFL learners; to explore the apparent domination of one English variety over others based on Saudi EFL learners' points of view; and to understand reasons behind the preference for one kind of English over the others. The study was conducted through both direct and indirect techniques of attitude measurement, via questionnaire and interviews. The questionnaire was designed as a verbal guise test combined with closed and open-ended questions. The sample of this study was a mixture of adult male and female students from two of Saudi Arabia's largest public educational environments. The findings of this study reveal that Saudi students are aware of at least some of the varieties of English. However, their attitudes towards these different world Englishes vary. They perceive British and American English as the standard benchmark and are not very accepting of non-native variants of World Englishes. It was also found that although most students preferred the English of native English teachers, they wanted to be taught by a teacher from Saudi Arabia because of their shared background.

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Palfreyman, Nicholas Barrie. "Sign language varieties of Indonesia : a linguistic and sociolinguistic investigation." Thesis, University of Central Lancashire, 2015. http://clok.uclan.ac.uk/12132/.

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Until now there has been no robust (socio)linguistic documentation of urban sign language varieties in Indonesia, and given the size of the Indonesian archipelago, it might be expected that these varieties are very different from each other. In this kind of situation, sign linguists have often applied lexicostatistical methods, but two such studies in Indonesia have recently produced contradictory results. Instead, this investigation uses conceptual and methodological approaches from linguistic typology and Variationist Sociolinguistics, contextualised by a sociohistorical account of the Indonesian sign community. The grammatical domains of completion and negation are analysed using a corpus of spontaneous data from two urban centres, Solo and Makassar. Four completive particles occur in both varieties, alongside clitics and the expression of completion through mouthings alone. The realisations of two variables, one lexical and one grammatical, are predicted by factors including the syntactic and functional properties of the variant, and younger Solonese signers are found to favour completive clitics. The reasons for intra-individual persistence and variation are also discussed. Negation is expressed through particles, clitics, suppletives, and the simultaneous mouthing of predicates with negative particles. These paradigmatic variants occur in both varieties, with small differences in the sets of particles and suppletives for each variety. The realisations of four variables are found to be conditioned by factors including predicate type, sub-function, and the use of constructed dialogue. The gender of the signer is found to correlate with the syntactic order of negative and predicate; younger Solonese signers are also found to favour negative clitics and suppletives. The similarities revealed between the Solo and Makassar varieties are discussed with reference to the history of contact between sign sub-communities across the archipelago. The investigation concludes with a discussion of factors that favour and disfavour the convergence of urban sign language varieties.

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Hall, Charles, Philip M. McCarthy, Gwyneth A. Lewis, Debra S. Lee, and Danielle S. McNamara. "Using Coh-Metrix to assess differences between English language varieties." University of Arizona Linguistics Circle, 2007. http://hdl.handle.net/10150/126392.

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This study examined differences between the written, national language varieties of the United States and Great Britain, specifically in texts regarding the topic of Law. The few previous studies that have dealt with differences between the dialects of the United States and Great Britain have focused on shallow-level features, such as lexis, subject-verb agreement, and even orthography. In contrast, this study uses the computational tool, Coh-Metrix, to distinguish British from American discourse features within one highly similar genre, Anglo-American legal cases. We conducted a discriminant function analysis along five indices of cohesion on a specially constructed corpus to show those differences in over 400 American and English/Welsh legal cases. Our results suggest substantial differences between the language varieties, casting doubt on previous generalizations about British and American writing that predict that the national varieties would vary more by genre than by language variety. Our results also offer guidance to materials developers of legal English for international purposes (such as in the E.U.) and drafters of international legal documents for producing effective and appropriate materials.

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Barbara, Schmiedtová. "At the same time ... the expression of simultaneity in learner varieties /." Berlin ; New York : Mouton de Gruyter, 2004. http://site.ebrary.com/lib/royallibrary/Doc?id=10197197.

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Strand, Thea Randina. "Varieties in dialogue: Dialect use and change in rural Valdres, Norway." Diss., The University of Arizona, 2009. http://hdl.handle.net/10150/194862.

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This dissertation is an investigation of the use, change, and status of the distinctive local dialect in rural Valdres, Norway. The Norwegian sociolinguistic situation has long been recognized as complicated by a protracted history of language planning and standardization, in which two competing written norms of Norwegian, called BokmÃ¥l and Nynorsk, are symbolically and ideologically associated with urban and rural identities, respectively. In addition, while Norwegians can choose from two written norms, no recognized standard exists for spoken Norwegian, and citizens are officially encouraged to use their native, local dialects. The present study approaches this situation through a case study of language use in Valdres today.In the summer of 2005, the distinctive dialect of the rural Valdres valley was voted "Norway's most popular dialect" on one of the country's most listened-to national radio programs, an event that both reflects and has contributed to a recent revaluation of the local dialect. Yet the results of previous dialectological research in Valdres have clearly pointed to long-term convergence toward what locals call "city language" -- the speech of nearby urban Oslo. While evidence of this decades-long trend is not contradicted by the findings of this dissertation research, the present study suggests that there may be more than one direction of dialect change in Valdres today. Despite ongoing changes in dialect morpho-lexis and phonology in the direction of urban regional speech, there is also a large number of relatively resistant dialect features in contemporary ValdresmÃ¥l, and, even more importantly, evidence of a re-expansion of the dialect among younger speakers, which appears to align with forms found in written Nynorsk, the alternative "rural" norm. The simultaneous sociolinguistic trends of dialect convergence, non-convergence, and divergence in the contemporary Valdres dialect vis-a-vis urban regional norms thus provide an interesting and complicated case of language variation and change.This dissertation combines methods from linguistic and cultural anthropology, ethnographic sociolinguistics, and acoustic phonetics to provide an illuminating analysis of the local relationships between standard and non-standard varieties, between written and spoken forms, and between contemporary language use and historically-rooted language ideologies.

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Boussougou, Sosthene. "Assessing the impact of French on the language varieties of Gabon." Thesis, Liverpool John Moores University, 2011. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.582870.

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This thesis examines the impact of French on the language varieties of Gabon. Today, only a few Gabonese are still able to speak Gabonese languages without borrowing French lexis, and a great number of schoolchildren and students neither learn nor use them at home (82.5%). This study explores the case of Gabonese languages from colonial to post-colonial era, showing the extent to which cultural, social, economic, and political factors have contributed to their decline, and how Gabonese people's lifestyle has changed. This study is based on questionnaire data drawn from 2400 respondents, currently in full time education, 10 interviews with specialists of each area covered by the theoretical framework, three case studies focusing on primary, secondary, and higher education, including 30 families as part of participant observation. Note-taking was used to record 30 hours of spontaneous conversations in Gabonese families' homes. Data were analysed in terms of language choice patterns and language switching. Past studies on language decline have been drawn from a number of different perspectives. These approaches are relevant to this study, and this thesis employs each of them as far as is possible with the available data. Moreover, this study makes the following main findings: 1) the indigenous languages of Gabon are in danger of being lost within a generation or two. There has been a rapid shift from local languages to French from primary to higher education, and the gap between the young and the older generations is continuously widening. The findings reveal that this linguistic situation has been brought on by many years of colonisation by France, and most recently by massive waves of globalisation (Conklin, 1997); 2) Gabonese people are not assimilated to French culture contrary to popular belief; 3) the project of a national language is feasible. Based on 6 explanatory factors that are grounded on qualitative data, the theory of languages suggests that French and local languages can co-exist. In short, respondents seek social status or success through education (64.4%) or material possessions (20.6%), increasing, therefore, the potential for social progress. Thus, it is through these processes that the theory of languages creates a non-threatening environment and re-establishes equilibrium in the multi-lingual system of Gabon.

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Şengül, Ceren. "Varieties of 'Kurdishness' in Turkey : state rhetoric, language, and regional comparison." Thesis, University of Edinburgh, 2016. http://hdl.handle.net/1842/23452.

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Kurds are the largest ethnic group in Turkey; they have been at the centre of conflict since the establishment of the Turkish Republic in 1923. Scattered across Turkey, with their own language, distinct from the official language of the state, and historically subject to the state’s homogenisation policies, Kurds present an interesting case for scholars of ethnicity. How does this history affect the way ‘Kurdishness’ is manifested? While Kurds’ relationship with the Turkish state and increasingly their everyday lives been widely studied, the diversity of the Kurdish experience in Turkey is not well understood. Drawing on the literature on boundary theory pioneered by Frederick Barth (1969) and developed by Andreas Wimmer (2013) among others, this thesis explores manifestations of ‘Kurdishness’ in Turkey. To do this, this thesis is interested in the role that state rhetoric, region and language play. The research design sought to capture something of the diversity of Kurdish experience across Turkey, specifically in Western Turkey (Istanbul, which has the largest Kurdish population within Turkey, and Ayvalık, a small town with certain Kurdish districts) and Southeast Turkey (multi-ethnic Mardin, Diyarbakır, the ‘spiritual capital’ for Kurds, and Derik, a small town predominated by Kurds). The research utilised three methods: semi-structured interviews, participant observation, and document analysis. 33 semi-structured interviews were conducted with Kurdish respondents, both native- and non-native speakers of Kurdish. Participant observation was also undertaken. This data was collected between January and May 2013, with follow-up research conducted in June 2014. In addition, party documents, speeches and statements by party leaders, and selected laws from the early Republican period (1923-1938) and the AKP period (from 2002 to the present) were analysed. This research suggests that ‘Kurdishness’ in Turkey is manifested in different forms. Instead of taking ‘Kurdishness’ as a matter of degree, this thesis suggests that individuals exhibit ‘Kurdishness’ in a variety of forms. Context is key. The thesis first examines the role of state rhetoric in categorising Kurdishness during two ‘moments of transition’, the creation of the Kemalist Republic and the advent of the AKP in power. It is suggested that not only changes but also continuities in state rhetoric play a significant role in the construction of ‘Kurdishness’ in these two moments. There is regional dimension to the display of Kurdishness. Specifically the boundaries of what constitutes Kurdishness contrast markedly by region. This is reflected in my respondents’ experience of discrimination and prejudice in their interactions with non-Kurds. Finally, family and neighbourhood also play a key role in shaping different forms. Specifically, the use of language in these environments plays an important role in shaping different forms of ‘Kurdishness’.

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Mattsson, Emil. "Dialect representation : Language varieties in The Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt." Thesis, Högskolan Väst, Avd för utbildningsvetenskap och språk, 2018. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:hv:diva-13168.

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This study examines the dialect representation in CD PROJEKT RED's video game The Witcher: Wild Hunt. The study intends to contribute to an already narrow sociolinguistic field of research of how dialects are represented in video games, more precisely role-playing games. The purpose of this study is to find out: 1) What are the pronunciation, word choice and grammar features of the farmer Bruno and the Witcher Geralt in the game, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, and 2) What social status, class, traits are the two characters' pronunciation, word choice and grammar features associated with?. The study looked into language varieties, regional dialects and stereotyping with support from sociolinguistic variables to help analysing the dialects. Character 1 was assumed to use West Country English. Character 2 was assumed to have a General American dialect. Each dialect was compared to dialects with similar linguistic features, and the case for each dialect was argued and proved through analysing the grammar, vocabulary and pronunciation. The study had two assumptions, 1) that the dialects used in The Witcher: Wild Hunt were used because of the real-life associations they have. There was no clear answer to this. However, it could be suggested that there indeed was a deliberate choice to assign the characters with their dialects, since many linguistic features correlated to real-life dialects and so did the associations we make with the dialect. The first character of low socioeconomic background and low social status had a dialect often associated with these traits. The second character had a linguistically neutral language, and had a dialect associated with similar traits. The second hypothesis was 2) the dialects in The Witcher: Wild Hunt run a risk of enforcing stereotypes. This was vaguely proven to be true, as it depends on how aware the players are when they play the game, as they might otherwise subconsciously enforce them. Disregarding the stereotypes as humorous representations was argued to be equally dangerous as a simple dismissal might do harm as well.

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Schmiedtová, Barbara. "At the same time ... the expression of simultaneity in learner varieties /." Berlin ; New York : Mouton de Gruyter, 2004. http://site.ebrary.com/lib/librarytitles/Doc?id=10197197.

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Revised Thesis (doctoral)--Radboud University, Nijmegen, 2004.
"SOLA, Studies on language acquisition"--Cover. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (p. [283]-296) and index.

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Miti, Lazarus Musazitame. "Tonal variation in Zambian Chinyanja varieties : an autosegmental analysis." Thesis, SOAS, University of London, 1988. http://eprints.soas.ac.uk/28910/.

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The language varieties examined in this study are Zambian Chicewa, Chinsenga and Chingoni (abbreviated as Ce, Ns and Ng respectively throughout the thesis). The three varieties are here referred to collectively as Zambian Chinyanja. The question to be addressed is that of internal classification, to establish, how close or how different these varieties are. Particular emphasis is placed on their tonal relationships, which is a topic usually neglected in dialect studies. The model adopted for the study is that of Autosegmental Phonology originated in 1976 by Goldsmith and - with particular relevance for Bantu tonology - developed in Clements and Goldsmith (1984), a work which included contributions from a number of people working in this field. (For example: Hyman and Byarushengo, Kisseberth, Laughren, Massamba and Odden). It is found that Autosegmental Phonology has advantages over linear models of Phonology such as the traditional Generative Phonology generally so far adopted by dialectologists Such as Brown (1972), Newton (1972), and Van Vliet (1981). In contrast to linear models, Autosegmental Phonology treats tone separately from the segmental elements that bear it. This allows the model to handle tonal variation more adequately. Furthermore, the traditional models of Generative Phonology were found to be too abstract and unconstrained. In particular, in Generative Dialectology, underlying forms which were constructed tended to be so abstract that they were really historical forms having no direct justification from the contemporary systems, of the individual dialects. In this study, synchrony and diachrony are sharply distinguished in terms of the Alternation Condition (Kiparsky 1968). Although the thesis is mainly concerned with tonal variation, it includes a lexicostatistical analysis and an overview of the Phonology and Morphology of the varieties. On the basis of these preliminary analyses only, three varieties of Zambian Chinyanja would need to be recognized. Examination of tonal data, on the other hand, reveals that there are five varieties, viz; Ce1, Ce2, Ns1, Ng and Ns2. Moreover, it has been established that Ns1 and Ng are tonally identical although this is not the case when lexicostatistics are considered. The overview of the morphology is a necessary inclusion. Firstly, throughout the tonal analysis, there is substantial reference to Phonological and Morphological processes. Secondly, the description of the morphology includes accounts of Ns and Ng, which, in contrast to Ce, have not previously received any scholarly attention. It is concluded that it is significant In dialect studies of some languages to include tonal variation, for on the basis of vocabulary correspondences and other segmental information alone, the classification of language varieties or dialects may be overly simplistic.

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Hurtig, Markus. "Varieties of English in the Swedish Classroom." Thesis, Karlstad University, Faculty of Arts and Education, 2007. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:kau:diva-581.

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Many English teachers see British English as the standard variety and teach this variety in the classroom. Their students are, however, also exposed to a great deal of American English in today’s media. As a result, there are a lot of students who use a mixture of these varieties because of the double input, both from media and from the teachers in school. In this paper, I interviewed teachers from Swedish secondary and upper secondary schools to find out what their attitudes towards British and American English were and whether these attitudes were reflected in their teaching. I also examined whether the teachers actually spoke the variety of English they thought they did as well as what their views were on students using a mixture of varieties. The focus of this essay will be on American English and British English.

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Weekly, Robert. "Multilingual South Asian English language teachers' attitudes to English language varieties and the impact on their teaching beliefs." Thesis, University of Southampton, 2015. https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/398692/.

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Recent changes at a global level in terms of migration patterns and telecommunications have destabilised many pre-established concepts. The notion of diaspora has given way to trans-localism and communities can no longer be conceived of as discreet homogenous units. Other language related concepts such as multilingualism, code-mixing, speech communities and language itself have been scrutinised and undermined by research in translanguaging, superdiversity, English as a Lingua Franca, World Englishes and language ideologies. In Britain new migrants from a myriad of different locations co-exist with older migrants and the local white British population in what has been termed as superdiversity. This study focuses on older migrants who interact with newer migrants within the classroom, in a teacher-student relationship, and also to a degree outside the classroom. It reports on the attitudes of multilingual English language teachers to varieties of English and how this influences their teaching practices. I interviewed and conducted focus group discussions with first and second generation migrants between January 2012 and February 2013. The participants are representative of two conflicting ideologies. On the one hand the participants have varying degrees of experience with indigenised non-native varieties of English through travel, from learning English in a context outside Britain, and through family and friendship networks. On the other hand they also have the responsibility to teach British Standard English to students who may already be speaking a fluent stable variety of English. The aim of the study was to understand how the participants reconciled conflicting attitudes about language and the extent to which this impacted on their teaching practices. The main findings of the study are that while many of the teachers are aware of and open to different variation in spoken English, this predominantly related to pronunciation. However there were clear differences between first and second generation migrants which appear to be related to the participant’s experience of different societal ideologies. This translated into different attitudes about correct language and their beliefs about their teaching practices. While first generation migrants’ attitudes showed evidence of being influenced by dual ideologies, second generation migrants’ attitudes more closely reflected societal ideologies in the UK.

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Park, Linda Seojung. "Language varieties and variation in English usage among native Korean speakers in Seoul." Thesis, University of Iowa, 2019. https://ir.uiowa.edu/etd/6830.

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In the last few decades, a rise in Korean speakers’ borrowing from English has led to a rich pool of contemporary Anglo-Korean vocabulary, also known as English loanwords. Despite the English roots of these borrowed words, their usage in a Korean context is often non-uniform and non-traditional; this process of borrowing, reshaping, and dispersing borrowed vocabulary provides insights on the dynamics of Korean society and its relationship to global English-speaking communities. In order to investigate the variations on Korean speakers’ use of Anglo-Korean words and their potential correlations with various factors, I conducted interviews with 24 native Korean speakers in Seoul, Korea in the summer of 2018. Subjects were diverse in their age, gender, and occupation. I analyzed the r speakers with a preference of Sino-Korean words, speakers with a preference of Anglo-Korean words, and speakers with a speech mixed of Korean, Korean English, and American English. I identified two variables as the most significant causes of diversity of speech: 1) age and 2) exposure to English. I established that 80% of my subjects over the age of 60 fell into the Sino-Korean-dominant category, and the best indicator of a subject being a translingual speaker was an increased exposure to English. In order to expand on evidence from my interviews, I historically contextualize Korean language in society alongside current ideologies related to language in Korea. In so doing, I explore the relationship between these variables and the language varieties of individual speakers. I argue that because a speaker’s age and exposure to English shapes the language variety they use and the language ideology in Korea touches individual speakers in different ways, native speakers in today’s Korea use several language varieties. These findings challenge the notion of a linguistically and ethnically homogeneous Korea and shed light on the current status of Korean English and American English in Korea.

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Wade, James. "Break-even Analysis of Durum Wheat Varieties: Price vs. Yield." College of Agriculture, University of Arizona (Tucson, AZ), 1986. http://hdl.handle.net/10150/200483.

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Ruuska, Sofia. "Englishes Online: : A comparison of the varieties of English used in blogs." Thesis, Linnéuniversitetet, Institutionen för språk (SPR), 2013. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:lnu:diva-27491.

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This study is based on data gathered from two corpora. It investigates and analyses the written English of second language users, in this case English used by Swedes, with the English used online in blogs found in the Birmingham Blog Corpus, which includes blogs written in English by authors of various nationalities. The aim is to compare Swedes’ use of English in blogs and the English used in general in blogs. The study focuses on typical features associated with either American English (AmE) or British English (BrE) and investigates which variety is the most prominent online. The results indicate that features that are generally associated with AmE have a higher frequency in both analysed corpora in this thesis. The conclusion is therefore that AmE tends to dominate both Swedish and international authors’ use of English in blogs.

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Carrie, Erin. "A social-psychological study of foreign learners' attitudes and behaviours towards model varieties of English speech." Thesis, University of St Andrews, 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/10023/5667.

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This thesis attempts to bridge the gap between Social Psychology and Sociolinguistics by exploring the relationship between language attitudes and language use. Using a sample of 71 university students in Spain, it investigates how learners deal with phonological variation in the English language, what language attitudes are held towards American and British models of English speech and which social and psychological factors are linked with learners' language attitudes and language use. A social-psychological model was adopted and adapted, allowing learners' use of intervocalic /t/ to be successfully predicted from measures of attitude, subjective norm and perceived behavioural control. Direct measures of learners' preferred accent and pronunciation class were also highly predictive of learners' language use. Several trends were found in the attitudinal data. Firstly, British English speech was rated more favourably overall, though American English speech was often viewed as more socially attractive. Secondly, the evaluative dimensions of competence and social attractiveness were salient amongst learners in the Spanish context. Each of these findings endorses those of previous language attitude studies conducted elsewhere. Thirdly, female speakers were consistently rated more favourably than male speakers; thus, highlighting the need for further investigation into the variable of speaker sex. Familiarity with the speech varieties under investigation – most often gained through education, media exposure, time spent abroad and/or contact with native speakers – seemed to result in learners challenging rigid stereotypes and expressing more individualised attitudes. Overall, British speech emerged as formal and functional, while American speech was thought to fulfil more informal and interpersonal functions. This thesis provides compelling evidence of attitude-behaviour relations, adds to the growing volume of language attitude research being conducted across the globe, and establishes – for the first time – which social and psychological variables are relevant and salient within English-language learning contexts in Spain.

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Haller, Hermann W. "Varieties, use, and attitudes of Italian in the U.S.: The dynamics of an immigrant language through time." Universität Potsdam, 2011. http://opus.kobv.de/ubp/volltexte/2011/5365/.

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Mok, Ka-lai Cynthia, and 莫嘉麗. "The sociolinguistics of written Chinese in local comic booksubculture: stigmatised language varieties inHong Kong." Thesis, The University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong), 1998. http://hub.hku.hk/bib/B31221488.

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Escobar, Stacy Rae. "Language Attitudes and Reported Usage of the Standard and Vernacular Varieties of Guaraní in Paraguay." Thesis, Virginia Tech, 2019. http://hdl.handle.net/10919/89629.

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This study examines the languages attitudes surrounding the standard (Academic Guaraní) and vernacular (Jopará) varieties of Guaraní, as well as the reported language use for Spanish and the two varieties of Guaraní. The study addresses language attitudes as manifestations of pride, loyalty, and prestige and reported language usage characteristic of a dichotomy between high and low varieties (e.g. Loureiro-Rodríguez, 2008) in order to determine if similar language attitudes and linguistic norms are evident in this community. A survey was used to gather data from 10 students and 10 teachers who live and work in Altos de La Cordillera (a small town with rural and urban features). Contrary to the findings of previous research studies on the language attitudes associated with high and low varieties (e.g. Garrett, 2001), the participants of this study appear to show an all-round favorability for the standard variety of Guaraní (Academic Guaraní). Furthermore, the reported language use of Spanish, Jopará, and Academic Guaraní does not seem to provide evidence for a Spanish/Guaraní diglossia in this community nor does there appear to be a dichotomy between the high and low varieties of Guaraní such as what has historically existed between Spanish and Guaraní. The participants' language attitudes and patterns of reported language use are interpreted in relation to notions of solidarity, superiority, accommodation, and the relationship between adolescence and identity formation.
Master of Arts
This study examines the languages attitudes surrounding the variety of Guaraní taught in school (Academic Guaraní) and the primarily oral variety of Guaraní (Jopará) historically spoken at home or in private contexts. It also examines the reported language use for Spanish and the two varieties of Guaraní. The study addresses language attitudes as manifestations of pride, loyalty, and prestige and reported language usage characteristic of multilingual communities in order to determine if similar language attitudes and linguistic norms are evident in this community. A survey was used to gather data from 10 students and 10 teachers who live and work in Altos de La Cordillera (a small town with rural and urban characteristics). The participants of this study appear to show an all-round favorability for the standard variety of Guaraní (Academic Guaraní). Furthermore, the reported language use of Spanish, Jopará, and Academic Guaraní does not seem to be connected to the formality or informality of the given situation or context. The participants’ language attitudes and patterns of reported language use are interpreted in reference to inter and intra-group relations and the notion of superiority.

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Chabo, Maria. "“It is important to understand that there are not just 3 varieties of English” : Swedish upper secondary school students’ awareness of and attitudes towards varieties of English." Thesis, Mälardalens högskola, Akademin för utbildning, kultur och kommunikation, 2021. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:mdh:diva-55437.

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The main aim of this study is to investigate Swedish upper secondary school students’ awareness of and attitudes to varieties of English, especially with a focus on accents. Based on a survey with both open-ended and closed questions, this study is both qualitative and quantitative. The questionnaire was distributed digitally to several teachers at three upper secondary schools in Sweden, one school in Eskilstuna and the other two in Stockholm. The number of participants in total was 88. The results revealed that the students were aware of several varieties of English, but the most known varieties were American, British, Irish and Indian English. Furthermore, the students were enthusiastic about both American and British English, but American English was the most common. In addition, the majority of the students believed that it was essential to learn about varieties of English in school and that American, British and Canadian were the most important varieties to learn about. In conclusion, the students have a general awareness of and an openness to linguistic variation, as well as being positive towards learning about different varieties of English in school.

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Smith, Anita Mohler. "Objective judgement of cheese varieties by multivariate analysis of HPLC profiles." Thesis, University of British Columbia, 1987. http://hdl.handle.net/2429/26535.

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An objective analytical method was developed to characterize the taste profiles of five cheese varieties. Nonvolatile water extracts of Cheddar, Edam, Gouda, Swiss, and Parmesan cheeses were analyzed by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with a reversed phase column. The HPLC operating conditions were determined with Mapping Super-Simplex followed by Centroid Mapping Optimization. A ternary gradient elution system was used with an Adsorbosphere C8 column to resolve a maximum number of components. The optimum solvent volume ratio was 96.8 : 1.2 : 2.0 for trifluoroacetic acid (0.1%), acetonitrile, and methanol, with a flow rate of 1.0 mL/min. Over 50.3 min this ratio was changed to 56.3 : 30.3 : 13.4. Multivariate statistical analyses including principal component and discriminant analyses were applied to 55 peak areas from 106 cheese chromatograms. Principal component analysis reduced the dimensionality of the "data from 55 to 17 principal components, which are-combinations of the original variables, with a 26% loss of explained sample variation. Discriminant analysis on data from a single HPLC column was able to correctly classify cheeses by variety at a greater than 90% success rate. This grouping rate dropped to 64% when data from all four HPLC columns was combined, implicating large between column variations. A semi-trained sensory panel correctly classified cheeses by variety at a 63% rate. This objective method provides a lasting fingerprint of cheese products.
Land and Food Systems, Faculty of
Graduate

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Sahlström, Camilla. "Upper Secondary Students' Assessment of Four Women Speaking Four Different Varieties of English." Thesis, Karlstad University, Division for Culture and Communication, 2006. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:kau:diva-125.

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Society exhibits a wide variety of different languages with various prominent features. At the same time as we honour diversity, however our civilisation is coloured with prejudice and preconceptions. Even if there is a rather liberal view on language use today, dialects and accents still carry positive and negative connotations for a majority of citizens. Research shows, that we are prejudiced and that we have predetermined ideas when it comes to certain language varieties.

In this study, I take up four varieties of Standard English: American, English, Australian and Scottish. I focus on the associations Swedish students make when it comes to these four language varieties and how this transforms into attitudes towards the speakers. A language attitude study is carried out by using a modified Matched Guise Test. I explain the difference between dialect and accent, as well as societal attitudes to language varieties and present some prominent linguists and their methods. Finally, I draw some conclusions by comparing my results to previous findings.

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Fairhurst, Melanie. "The pragmatic markers anyway, okay and shame : a comparative study of two African varieties of English." Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2013. http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/85844.

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Thesis (MPhil)--Stellenbosch University, 2013.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The goal of this study was to determine and compare the functions of the pragmatic markers (PMs) okay, anyway and shame as they occur in two spoken components of the International Corpus of English (ICE), namely ICE-SA (South African English) and ICE-EA (East African English). Using the commercially available Concordance program WordSmith Tools 4.0, all instances of okay, anyway and shame were identified in each corpus and all non-PM instances were then excluded. The remaining instances of okay, anyway and shame were subsequently hand coded to determine the primary functions that these elements exhibit. The classification of the various functions was done according to Fraser’s (1996, 1999, 2006) framework for identification of PMs. Despite the different size and state of completion of the two corpora, it was found that the functions of the two PMs okay and anyway were similar in South African English and East African English. The findings of the corpus investigation included identifying the functions of okay as both a conversational management marker and a basic marker, as well as its role in turn taking. Anyway was found to function as an interjection, a mitigation marker, a conversational management marker and a discourse marker. Shame was found to be a uniquely South African English PM, and to function both as an interjection and as a solidarity marker.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die doel van hierdie studie was om vas te stel watter funksies verrig word deur die pragmatiese merkers (PM's) okay, anyway en shame, soos wat hulle gebruik word in twee gesproke komponente van die Internasionale Korpus van Engels (IKE), naamlik IKE-SA (Suid-Afrikaanse Engels) en IKE-OA (Oos-Afrika Engels). Met behulp van die kommersieel-beskikbare Concordance-program Wordsmith Tools 4.0, is alle gevalle van okay, anyway en shame binne die onderskeie korpusse geïdentifiseer, waarna alle nie-PM gevalle uitgesluit is. Die oorblywende gevalle van okay, anyway en shame is daarna met die hand gekodeer ten einde die primêre funksies van hierdie elemente vas te stel. Die funksies is geklassifiseer volgens Fraser (1996, 1999, 2006) se raamwerk vir die identifikasie van PM's. Ten spyte van verskille in die grootte en vlak van voltooidheid van die twee korpora, is vasgestel dat die PM's okay en anyway soortgelyke funksies verrig in beide Suid-Afrikaanse Engels en Oos-Afrika Engels. Uit die korpus-analise het dit verder geblyk dat okay nie net 'n rol speel in beurtneming nie, maar ook funksioneer as 'n gespreksbestuur-merker en basiese merker. Anyway blyk op sy beurt te funksioneeer as 'n tussenwerpsel, versagting-merker, gespreksbestuurmerker en diskoersmerker. Laastens is gevind dat shame as PM uniek is aan Suid- Afrikaanse Engels en dat dit funksioneer as beide 'n tussenwerpsel en solidariteitsmerker.

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Kortum, Richard D. "Varieties of Tone: Frege, Dummett and the Shades of Meaning." Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University, 2013. https://amzn.com/1349442593.

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In clear and lively prose that avoids jargon, the author carefully and systematically examines the many kinds of subtly nuanced words or word-pairs of everyday discourse such as 'and'-'but', 'before'-'ere', 'Chinese'-'Chink', and 'sweat'-'perspiration', that have proven resistant to truth-conditional explanations of meaning.
https://dc.etsu.edu/etsu_books/1108/thumbnail.jpg

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Miyagi, Kazufumi. "Japanese EFL teachers' perceptions of nonnative varieties of English : are they ready to include other Englishes in their classrooms?" Thesis, McGill University, 2006. http://digitool.Library.McGill.CA:80/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=98560.

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This study investigates Japanese EFL teachers' perceptions of regional varieties of English, which are designated as either the Outer Circle or the Expanding Circle by Kachru (1985), and their potential place in EFL teaching in Japan. Participants were 36 teachers at junior high and elementary schools and 28 undergraduates in a TEFL certificate program. Data collection was completed with the use of two Likert-scale questionnaires: one involving a task in listening to various English varieties, and the other asking about beliefs about the English language in general and perceptions of nonnative/nonstandard Englishes as opposed to the two major varieties in ELT in Japan: American and British English. In addition, oral interviews were conducted with several participants and their assistant language teachers (ALTs).
The findings suggested that in-service teachers showed more ambivalent attitudes toward nonnative varieties than student-teachers did; although the teachers acknowledged potential benefits of nonnative Englishes for the future use of EIL, they showed hesitation in regarding different Englishes as instructional models to be exposed to students. However, the study also showed participants' interest in introducing other Englishes as awareness-raising models. The possibility of inclusion of nonnative varieties was further discussed.

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McKenzie, Robert M. "A quantitative study of the attitudes of Japanese learners towards varieties of English speech : aspects of the sociolinguistics of English in Japan." Thesis, University of Edinburgh, 2007. http://hdl.handle.net/1842/1519.

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Language attitude studies focussing specifically on native speaker perceptions of varieties of English speech have demonstrated consistently that standard varieties tend to be evaluated positively in terms of competence/ status whilst non-standard varieties are generally rated higher in terms of social attractiveness/ solidarity. However, the great majority of studies which have investigated non-native attitudes have tended to measure evaluations of ‘the English language’, conceptualised as a single entity, thus ignoring the substantial regional and social variation within the language. This is somewhat surprising considering the importance of attitudes towards language variation in the study of second language acquisition and in sociolinguistics. More specifically, there is a dearth of in-depth quantitative attitude research in Japan concentrating specifically on social evaluations of varieties of English, as the limited number of previous studies conducted amongst Japanese learners have either been qualitative in design or too small in scale. Moreover, the findings of these studies have been somewhat inconclusive. The present quantitative study, employing a range of innovative direct and indirect techniques of attitude measurement, investigated the perceptions of 558 Japanese university students of six varieties of English speech. The results obtained suggest that Japanese learners are able to differentiate between speech varieties within a single language of which they are not native speakers and hold different and often complex attitudes towards (a) standard/ non-standard and (b) native/ non-native varieties of English speech. For instance, the learners rated both the standard and non-standard varieties of inner circle speech more highly than varieties of expanding circle English in terms of prestige. In contrast, it was found that the learners expressed higher levels of solidarity with the Japanese speaker of heavily-accented English and intriguingly, with speakers of non-standard varieties of UK and US English than with speakers of standard varieties of inner circle English. Moreover, differences in the Japanese students’ gender, level of self-perceived competence in English, level of exposure to English and attitudes towards varieties of Japanese all had significant main effects on perceptions of varieties of English speech. However, the regional provenance of the informants was not found to be significant in determining their language attitudes. The results also imply that Japanese learners retain representations of varieties of English speech and draw upon this resource, whether consciously or unconsciously, in order to identify and evaluate (speakers of) these speech varieties. The findings are discussed in relation to the pedagogical and language planning implications for the choice of linguistic model in English language teaching both inside and outwith Japan and in terms of the methodological importance of the study for potential future attitudinal research in this area.

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Casaregola, Laura. "How Our Music Tastes Relate to Language Attitudes with Standard and Non-standard Varieties of English." Scholarship @ Claremont, 2017. http://scholarship.claremont.edu/scripps_theses/1044.

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Sociolinguistics studies on language perception have shown that listeners form different attitudes toward speakers based on the speakers’ language varieties (Lukes and Wiley 1996, Lippi-Green 2012, Thompson, Craig, and Washington 2004). Just from hearing a voice, listeners form opinions, and these opinions are often informed by societal archetypes, as well as societal stereotypes. For example, Standard American English is generally perceived with more prestige and respect than non-standard varieties. Unfavorable perceptions of non-standard varieties can, and in many documented cases does, lead to inequitable and/or discriminatory situations (Baugh 2003). Non-standard and standard varieties are found in language use in music. The emergence of the Internet and music playing platforms, as well as more diverse musicians getting mainstream radio play and pay, leads to non-standard varieties reaching new listeners in a new format. In this thesis, I survey the types of music to which people listen, and their perceptions to speakers of Standard American English, Southern American English, and African American English to investigate how the music people listen to connects to their language attitudes. The results show that overall, listeners of any genre have more favorable attitudes toward Standard American English; and, that listeners of rap and/or hip-hop have more favorable attitudes than other groups of listeners toward the non-standard varieties.

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Alfredsson, Antonia. ""What Variety Do You Think I Should Use?" : Seven Swedish EFL Teachers' views on language varieties in the classroom." Thesis, Jönköping University, Högskolan för lärande och kommunikation, 2021. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:hj:diva-53681.

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The aim of this essay is to gain knowledge about attitudes towards the use of different varieties of English in the classroom from the perspective of seven English teachers in Swedish upper secondary school. The study was carried out through interviews with teachers from different upper secondary schools in Sweden. Qualitative interviews were used to gain information from the teachers. The results showed that the language varieties most of the teachers used were American English and British English, which had to do with what variety they were more exposed to. When asked about their students’ choices of language variety in the classroom, the teachers said that they used American English because of the frequent presence of the variety in films and television. The teachers worked with language varieties in the classroom by incorporating different varieties into the teaching using films, clips or listening comprehensions with speakers of, for example, Indian English or Australian English. Regarding the significance of working with language varieties in the classroom, the teachers said that it could develop knowledge and understanding of other people and that it could expand knowledge about the English-speaking world. In conclusion, the results showed that, even though American English and British English are the most commonly used English varieties in Swedish upper secondary schools, there are many ways teachers try to incorporate other language varieties to help students develop their English.

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Livingstone, Alma. "Identifying Varieties of Peace : A Cluster Analysis of Peacefulness in the 21st Centur." Thesis, Umeå universitet, Statsvetenskapliga institutionen, 2019. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-162556.

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This thesis identifies a discrepancy in the understanding of peace as a need for further efforts to be made in both the conceptualization and operationalization of what peace is. Working from the pluralistic multidimensional view of what peace could be defined as, dictated by the works of Dietrich (2014), Kovacs-Söderberg and Höglund (2010) and Davenport et al. (2018), this thesis set out to explore structures present in the descriptive variables of peacefulness found in the Global Peace Index data set. Through a multivariate cluster analysis, six clusters emerged. These inhibited differing magnitudes of the set of variables, that served as the basis for profiling and labelling of the clusters. Five of the clusters were defined as varying levels of internal and external qualities, behaviors and attitudes. The sixth cluster served as a more peaceful category, containing most countries traditionally understood as peaceful. The thesis concluded in a result that encourages the use of the clustering as a tool for peace categorization but lacked in the power of explaining variations of the most peaceful category. Concluding that the included variables proved to be inadequate when attempting to uncover variations of observations that are considered more peaceful, suggesting that additional variables are needed to capture the variety between these observations.

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Wood, Tahir Muhammed. "Perceptions of, and attitudes towards, varieties of English in the Cape Peninsula, with particular reference to the ʾcoloured communityʾ." Thesis, Rhodes University, 1988. http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002018.

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This study set out to analyse the concept of the ʾcoloured communityʾ and to describe the linguistic phenomena associated with it. It was found that the community was characterized by division and an overt rejection of 'coloured' identity. A satisfactory definition of the community could only be arrived at by exploring social psychological and anthropological concepts, particularly that of the social network, and a covert identification was postulated. This in turn was used to explain the linguistic phenomena which were found to be associated with the community. The latter included a vernacular dialect consisting of non-standard Afrikaans blended with English, as well as a stratification of particular items in the English spoken by community members . This stratification was analysed in terms of the social distribution of the items, enabling comparisons to be made with the English spoken by ʾwhitesʾ. A fieldwork study was embarked on with the intention of discovering the nature of the perceptions of, and attitudes towards, the idiolects of certain speakers. These idiolects were considered to be typical and representative of the forms of English normally encountered in the Cape Peninsula, and were described in terms of the co-occurrences of linguistic items which they contained. Tape recordings of the speech of this group of speakers were presented in a series of controlled experiments to subjects from various class and community backgrounds who were required to respond by completing questionnaires. It was found that those lects which contained items and co-occurrences of items peculiar to 'coloured' speakers were associated with lower status than those containing items and co-occurrences of items peculiar to 'white' speakers. Attitudes towards speakers were found to be more complex and depended upon the styles and paralanguage behaviours of the speakers, as well as accent, and also the psychological dispositions of the subjects who participated

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De, Leo Davide. "The translation of judgments in different and similar legal systems and languages/language varieties : an empirical study." Thesis, University of Surrey, 2011. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.543766.

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Mitsch, Jane F. "Bordering on National Language Varieties: Political and linguistic borders in the Wolof of Senegal and The Gambia." The Ohio State University, 2016. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1451114927.

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Helleberg, Fia. "English with an accent : A study of attitudes among Swedish adolescents regarding British and Middle Eastern varieties of English." Thesis, Mälardalens högskola, Akademin för utbildning, kultur och kommunikation, 2018. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:mdh:diva-40161.

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This study examines the attitudes of adolescent Swedes towards speakers of British and Middle Eastern varieties of English. Due to the ongoing wars in the Middle East and elsewhere, and thus the stream of refugees seeking sanctuary in Sweden and other European countries, many children from diverse backgrounds have been and will be enrolled in Swedish schools. Considering their right to democratic, humane and inclusive education, it is of importance to identify and oppose possible prejudice and preconceptions towards foreign languages, cultures and religions at an early state. This study aims towards this goal. The study, carried out among Swedish teenagers, is based on a matched-guise test in combination with an Osgood scale. The pre-recorded speakers were from Iran, Syria, and Britain. The results of the study prove that there were preconceptions regarding Middle Eastern varieties of English, yet they can be both positive and negative. It is evident that the majority of the informants perceived the Middle Eastern speakers of English negatively with regard to traits that may be related to education, economy and intelligence, yet they rated the same speakers positively with regard to traits that may be correlated to emotional and social capacity. Interestingly enough, the study also provides evidence to suggest that British speakers of English are perceived favourably with regard to traits that may be related to education, economy and intelligence, yet negatively with regard to traits that may be correlated to emotional and social capacity. Overall, the study mainly provided results that confirm findings of previous research within the field.

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SABATO, DIEGO. "Archaeological seeds and local varieties of edible fruits: morphology through time." Doctoral thesis, Università degli Studi di Cagliari, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/11584/266569.

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This research is divided in five chapters: [CHAPTER 1] describes the research carried out on waterlogged plant remains from a Late Bronze Age well found near Cabras, in Sa Osa area (Central-West Sardinia). The combination of macro-remain and pollen analyses in this unique context provided important information for exploring not only local subsistence systems but also human impact on the surrounding environment. Grapes and figs were the most abundant remains together with other fruits and edible vascular plants. Remains of melon and mulberry were identified being the earliest remains of these two species for Western Europe. [CHAPTER 2] concerns the plant remains contained in some Phoenician-Punic amphorae dated to the 6th-5th and the 3rd-2nd century BC century BC found at the bottom of Santa Giusta lagoon (Central-West Sardinia). Many of these amphorae contained ovine/caprine bones with butchery marks associated with grapes and other fruits, as plums, sloes, and junipers, which may have played a role in meat preservation. Other fruits and nuts found in the same contexts, such as watermelon, bottle gourd, hazelnuts, walnuts, pine nuts, almonds and olives were probably related to food trade. [CHAPTER 3] describes the phenotypic characterization achieved by seed features compared with molecular analysis on modern Cucumis melo genotypes. A set of 124 accessions of Cucumis melo has been selected for molecular and morpho-colourimetric analyses plus an additional selection of accessions of C. sativus, Citrullus lanatus and C. colocynthis used to highlight seed morphology distances among genus and species. A strong correlation has been found between the two characters. Both molecular and seed morpho-colorimetrical analyses confirm the existence of two melon subspecies while an intermediate group has also found. [CHAPTER 4] describes the comparison of molecular and morphological seed features of Late Bronze Age melon seeds found in Sa Osa (Chapter 1) with a set of 172 accessions of melon landraces. Both molecular and morphological analyses confirmed that these archaeological seeds did not belong to a wild species, but to a cultivated melon, likely to be an intermediate form between the two melon subspecies. Reasonably, this primitive melon could be attributed to an ancestral non-sweet or low sugar form of chate, flexuosus or ameri varieties. [CHAPTER 5] describes de comparison of molecular and morphological seed features of Medieval melon and watermelon seeds discovered in a well in via Satta, in the centre of Sassari. Molecular characterization has been carried out on the same reference set described in Chapter 4 while the morphological comparison of watermelon seeds was based on 36 Citrullus lanatus and C. colocynthis landraces. Molecular and morphological analyses matched with both sweet and non-sweet melon accessions. Data suggests that several types of melon were already cultivated in Medieval Age. Morphological characterization of watermelon seeds evidenced a close relation with Sardinian, Spanish and Asian landraces, suggesting that watermelons were already close to modern varieties.

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Bellamy, John Paul. "Language attitudes in England and Austria : comparing reactions towards high and low prestige varieties in Manchester and Vienna." Thesis, University of Manchester, 2011. http://www.manchester.ac.uk/escholar/uk-ac-man-scw:119017.

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This thesis presents results obtained during 2007/08 in the course of doctoral research into attitudes towards linguistic variation in England and Austria and is based in part on a study by Lees (2000). In this project attitudes amongst British and Austrian informants towards low-prestige ('dialect') and high-prestige varieties are investigated on the basis of assumptions made about speakers of these varieties. The data are collected by means of the 'matched-guise technique', whereby informants listen to a number of recordings of low and high-prestige varieties and note their reactions on the basis of a selection of traits using a semantic differential. In this way the research aims to ascertain whether a pattern emerges, where the informants' perception of the guises is influenced by the prestige of the spoken variety. The results in England and in Austria are compared in order to determine similarities and differences in language attitudes towards low and high-prestige varieties in the two countries. Some results presented here correspond to certain social expectations, with high-prestige speakers being associated with better-paid employment and a better education. Other results, though, are less predictable, as where, for example, the female informants in England and in Austria judge the speakers more positively than the male informants, regardless of the prestige of the speaker's variety. In any case, there is evidence from both countries of the informants' evaluations of the speaker being influenced by their associations of the speaker's variety with that speaker's social status. The data also indicate that the social status of speakers in England is judged to a greater extent on the basis of their spoken variety than is the case in Austria, where speakers are more used to switching freely between points on the standard-dialect continuum and are consequently less judgemental in their perception of a speaker based purely on the evidence of their spoken variety.

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Hugger, Daniela Maria. "English varieties in Sweden : A case-study exploring the use of English by language teachers in Swedish schools." Thesis, Högskolan Dalarna, Engelska, 2020. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:du-35072.

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This study investigates which English variety teachers in Sweden learned, which they use now and whether this has changed over time. The study included the two major varieties of English, namely British English and American English. The hypothesis for this paper is that British English will have played an important part in the teachers’ schooling but American English will have had a strong influence in their day-to-day lives and will likely have hanged how they use English. Data was collected in the form of questionnaires filled in by 294 teachers who teach English at primary, secondary and upper secondary schools in Sweden. The results support the thesis of the paper that teachers mainly learned British English at school while American English becomes more common for teachers under the age of 40. However, the majority of participants were found to use a variety which has features of both British and American English - it is referred to as Mid-Atlantic English in this paper.

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Ngara, Rudo. "A proteomic analysis of drought and salt stress responsive proteins of different sorghum varieties." Thesis, University of the Western Cape, 2009. http://etd.uwc.ac.za/index.php?module=etd&action=viewtitle&id=gen8Srv25Nme4_1434_1334579378.

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This study reports on a proteomic analysis of sorghum proteomes in response to salt and hyperosmotic stresses. Two-dimensional gel electrophoresis (2DE) in combination with mass spectrometry (MS) was used to separate, visualise and identify sorghum proteins using both sorghum cell suspension cultures and whole plants. The sorghum cell suspension culture system was used as a source of culture filtrate (CF) proteins. Of the 25 visualised CBB stained CF spots, 15 abundant and well-resolved spots were selected for identification using a combination of MALDI-TOF and MALDI-TOFTOF MS, and database searching. Of these spots, 14 were positively identified as peroxidases, germin proteins, oxalate oxidases and alpha-galactosidases with known functions in signalling processes, defense mechanisms and cell wall metabolism.

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Papageorgiou, Theofania. "Image analysis and multivariate morphometrics as means of distingushing between apple varieties and clones." Thesis, Imperial College London, 1995. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.267281.

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Piras, Simone. "Volatile and sensory characterization of white wines from minority grapes varieties." Master's thesis, ISA, 2019. http://hdl.handle.net/10400.5/19567.

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Michalski, Burkhard. "On the lattice of varieties of almost-idempotent semirings." Doctoral thesis, Technische Universitaet Bergakademie Freiberg Universitaetsbibliothek "Georgius Agricola", 2018. http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bsz:105-qucosa-232529.

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Die Arbeit beschäftigt sich mit fast-idempotenten Halbringen, die eine Verallgemeinerung der idempotenten Halbringe darstellen. Es werden - ausgehend von Halbringen mit zwei Elementen - bis auf isomorphe Bilder sämtliche fast-idempotente Halbringe mit drei Elementen generiert, diejenigen Halbringe, die schon in durch zweielementige Halbringe erzeugten Varietäten liegen, aussortiert und die in den verbleibenden elf Halbringen gültigen Gleichungen charakterisiert. Der Verband L(IA3) der Varietäten generiert durch fast-idempotente Halbringe mit maximal drei Elementen wird mit Hilfe eines Kontexts mit 21 Halbringen als Attribute und 28 trennenden Gleichungen als Objekte vollständig bestimmt und besteht aus 19.901 Varietäten. Im Anschluss richtet sich der Fokus der Arbeit auf den Verband L(IA) der fast-idempotenten Halbringe. In diesem werden insbesondere die Varietät V = [xy = yx, xy = xy+x] und deren Untervarietäten V_k = [x^k = x^(k+1)], k >= 2; untersucht. Für all diese Varietäten wird jeweils eine Konstruktionsmethode für eine abzählbare Kette an Untervarietäten der gegebenen Varietät eingeführt und somit schließlich gezeigt, dass der Verband L(IA) aus mindestens abzählbar unendlich vielen Varietäten besteht.

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Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Analysis of Language Varieties'

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