Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'English language Social aspects Australia'
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Deng, Xudong. "Chinese and Australian conversational styles: A comparative sociolinguistic study of overlap and listener response." Thesis, Edith Cowan University, Research Online, Perth, Western Australia, 1999. https://ro.ecu.edu.au/theses/1242.
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This study compares the use of overlap and listener response by Chinese and Australian speakers in their respective intracultural conversations, that is, in conversations between Chinese interlocutors in Mandarin Chinese and between Australians in Australian English. The main purpose of this study is to locate similarities and differences between these two groups of speakers in their use of the two conversational strategies. Another major theme of the thesis is to examine the role of gender in the use of overlap and listener response in conversations of the two languages. The study is based upon the theoretical premise of interactional sociolinguistics that different cultural groups may have different rules for participation and interpretation of conversation and that conflicts related to these rules are a major source of cross cultural (and cross gender) miscommunication. It is also a response to lack of evidence for this claim from languages other than English, especially from Chinese. The data for the study are from 30 dyadic conversations between friends of similar age and similar social status: 15 Chinese conversations in Mandarin Chinese and 15 Australian ones in Australian English. Both the Australian and the Chinese conversations come from 5 female-female dyads, 5 male-male dyads and 5 male-female dyads. Both the qualitative and the quantitative aspects of the use of overlap and listener response are compared. With respect to the use of overlap, the qualitative part of the study examines the various phenomena that the speakers orient to in overlap onset, the procedures they use to resolve the state of overlap, and the strategies they employ to retrieve their overlapped utterances. The quantitative part of the study then compares the use of overlap by Chinese and Australian speakers and their respective male and female participants in terms of overlap onset, resolution, and/or retrieval . In regard to the use of listener response, the qualitative part of the study looks at how passive recipiency and speakership incipiency are signalled and achieved through the use of different listener response tokens in conversations of the two languages. The quantitative part of the study compares the use of listener response by Chinese and Australian speakers and male and female participants in three aspects: the overall frequency of listener responses used, the types of listener responses favoured, and the placements of listener responses with reference to a possible completion point. The results of the comparison reveal a number of similarities and differences in the use of overlap and listener response by Chinese and Australian speakers. For the use of overlap, the similarities include: 1) Both Chinese and Australian speakers have the same set of issues to orient to in their initiation of overlap, resort to the same basic procedures in resolving the state of overlap, and use the same strategies in retrieving their overlapped utterances; 2) they use a similar number of overlaps; 3) they start their overlaps mostly at a possible completion point; 4) they tend to continue with their talk more than to drop out when an overlap occurs. Two specific differences have also been identified in the use of overlap by Chinese and Australian speakers: 1) Australians initiate a higher percentage of their overlaps at a possible completion point whereas Chinese initiate a greater proportion of their overlaps in the midst of a turn; 2) when overlap occurs, Chinese speakers drop out more to resolve the state of overlap while Australian speakers continue their talk more to get through the overlap. For the use of listener response, the similarities lie largely in the ways of orienting to an extended turn unit by Chinese and Australian recipients in a conversation. Available in conversations of both languages are the two distinctive uses of listener response, that is, to show passive recipiency or to signal speakership incipiency. The differences between the two groups of speakers in the use of listener response include: 1) Australians use more listener responses than Chinese speakers; 2) while Australians prefer to use linguistic lexical expressions such as 'yeh' and 'right' as their reaction to the primary speaker's ongoing talk, Chinese speakers favour the use of paralinguistic vocalic forms such as 'hm' and 'ah'; 3) whereas Australians place a higher percentage of their listener responses at a possible completion point than Chinese speakers, Chinese speakers place a larger proportion of their listener responses in the midst of a turn than their Australian counterparts. While the similarities between Chinese and Australian speakers in their use of overlap and listener response indicate to a great extent the sharing of similar organising principles for conversation by both languages, the differences show some culture-specific aspects of the use of these two conversational strategies by the two groups of speakers. The study found a striking parallel between the differential use of overlap and listener response by Chinese and Australian speakers and their different perceptions of rights and obligations in social life, including in social interaction. The study does not reveal consistent cross-cultural patterns with respect to the use of overlap and listener response by male and female speakers in Chinese and Australian conversations. That is, gender has not played an identical role in the use of the two conversational strategies in conversations of, the two languages. Gender differential interactional patterns are to a great extent culture-specific. This finding, together with that of within-culture and within-gender variation, cautions us against any universal claim about gender-differential use of a given conversational phenomenon, whether the claims are based on deficit, or dominance, or difference assumptions in language and gender theories.
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Haig, Yvonne G. "Teacher perceptions of student speech." Thesis, Edith Cowan University, Research Online, Perth, Western Australia, 2001. https://ro.ecu.edu.au/theses/1030.
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Although language variation is widespread and natural,it is subject to judgement. Where a standard language has developed, other varieties tend to be judged against its "standards". While a number of overseas studies have found that this type of linguistic bias occurs in education and negatively impacts on dialect speakers, there has been little research in Australia. The research reported in this thesis investigates how teachers perceive the speech of school-aged students and whether the socio-economic status or level of schooling of the students influence these perceptions. Further, it examines the relationships between the teachers' background, the way they define Standard Australian English, their attitude to language variation and the way they perceive student speech. The research was undertaken as three separate but related studies. Thirty six teachers from twelve different schools were involved - three teachers from four different schools (n=l2) participating in each of the three studies. In Study One, the teachers kept observational notes on the problems they identified in their students' speech for a period of a week. In Study Two, the teachers participated in school-based focus groups to discuss those features they deemed to be problematic in their students' speech. In Study Three, the teachers ranked tape-recorded samples of speech from students who were not known to them. All the teachers provided background information, wrote their own definition of Standard Australian English and completed a questionnaire about their attitude to language variation in general and to the use of particular variants of English. The teachers in the three studies identified aspects of pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar and language use as problematic in student speech. The teachers' judgement of what was problematic and their perception of what caused these problems differed according to the socio-economic status of the students. Many of the features teachers identified as problematic were variants of Australian English. The teachers of low SES students tended to see this variation as evidence of their students' language deficiency and to be the result of their "restricted" backgrounds. The teachers of high SES students identified fewer problems in their students' speech and tended to view variation as developmental, inappropriately informal use of language or the result of deterioration in "standards". The teachers' perceptions of speech also varied according to the year level they were teaching. These perceptions reflected the teachers' own backgrounds, their personal definitions of Standard Australian English, their own "idealised" speech and their view of the relative status of Australian accents. The written form of the language also greatly influenced the teachers' perceptions of student speech. The results of this research have important implications for pedagogy, particularly in relation to equity and social justice. In an education system which increasingly relies on teacher judgements to assess the progress of students, the often negative influence of factors related to a student's background should be of serious concern. A failure to recognise the impact of non-standard features in speech on the educational opportunities and achievements of students would compromise their basic rights and limit the social and economic contributions they would otherwise be able to make.
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Hui, Leng. "A study of intercultural discourse between mainland Chinese speakers of English and Anglo-Australians." Thesis, Edith Cowan University, Research Online, Perth, Western Australia, 2005. https://ro.ecu.edu.au/theses/672.
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Intercultural communication between mainland Chinese speakers of English and Anglo-Australians is receiving ever-increasing attention in many fields. These fields include intercultural communication. English language teaching, education and business. This study approached the intercultural communication between mainland Chinese speakers of English and Anglo-Australians from a cognitive perspective by applying the theoretical framework of cultural linguistics. The intercultural discourse produced by mainland Chinese speakers of English in the context of them interacting with Anglo-Australians was analysed. The analysis was made by employing key concepts such as schemas, cultural schemas, discourse scenarios and discourse indexicals. A body of 39 audio-taped conversations between mainland Chinese speakers of English and Anglo-Australians which ran about 50 hours was collected according to the research tradition of the ethnography of communication. The data were transcribed and examined with the “emic” and “etic” insights provided by volunteer participants and informants. Fifty live excerpts of these conversations were analysed in line with cognitive anthropology and cultural linguistics.
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Jayadeva, Sazana. "Overcoming the English handicap : seeking English in Bangalore, India." Thesis, University of Cambridge, 2015. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.708998.
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Chan, Haw-fung Victor, and 陳可風. "Hong Kong English and the internet." Thesis, The University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong), 1999. http://hub.hku.hk/bib/B31951806.
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Blumenthal, Laura F. "Self-Efficacy in Low-Level English Language Learners." PDXScholar, 2014. https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/open_access_etds/1622.
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Accounting for differences in second language proficiency attainment is an important area of inquiry in the study of Second Language Acquisition (SLA). Accounts of the language acquisition process have generally come from cognitive or psychological perspectives, which view language learning as primarily an internal mental/emotional process, or from sociocultural or critical perspectives that emphasize the influence of the learner's social environment. Research on variability in language learning has also failed to take into account the learning experiences of low-level learners.
This study adopted a social-psychological perspective on language acquisition that focused on the role of self-efficacy in learning, and applied this perspective to understudied learners.
This study interviewed four low- to intermediate-proficiency English language learners (ELLs) from Mexico about their experiences and their self-efficacy beliefs about their ability to use their English. Their accounts of their experiences learning and using English were analyzed qualitatively and four major themes were found: the role of English language interlocutors, the participants' self-assessment of their abilities, structural obstacles to learning, and the participants' experiences of and responses to challenges. The results also explored students' expressions of self-efficacy, and the ways in which their levels of efficacy helped or hindered their ability to successfully engage in interactions with English speakers.
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Wong, Lai-man David, and 黃禮文. "The contemporary history of press commentaries on the English languagein Hong Kong (1 January 1997 to 30 June 1997)." Thesis, The University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong), 1997. http://hub.hku.hk/bib/B31951545.
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Lee, Sze-yan, and 李詩甄. "Language attitudes of Hong Kong students towards English, Cantonese and Putonghua." Thesis, The University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong), 2005. http://hub.hku.hk/bib/B31608255.
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Yu, Siu-hung, and 余小紅. "The teaching of English: a sociological perspective." Thesis, The University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong), 1994. http://hub.hku.hk/bib/B31958400.
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De, Klerk Vivian Anne. "An investigation into the language of English-speaking adolescents, with particular reference to sex, age and type of school." Thesis, University of Cape Town, 1989. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/23092.
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Nitta, Takayo. "Affective, cognitive and social factors affecting Japanese learners of English in Cape Town." Thesis, University of the Western Cape, 2006. http://etd.uwc.ac.za/index.php?module=etd&action=viewtitle&id=gen8Srv25Nme4_1842_1210749983.
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This research used diary studies and interviews with five Japanese learners of English to investigate the different affective, cognitive and social factors that affected their learning of English in Cape Town between 2004 and 2005. The findings of this study corroborate arguments put forward by Gardner that factors such as learning goals, learning strategy, attitude, motivation, anxiety, self-confidence and cultural beliefs about communication affect the acquisition of a second language and correlate with one another.
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Cheng, Mei Ling Tina. "An analysis of social & psychological factors in learning English as a second language in Hong Kong." HKBU Institutional Repository, 1998. http://repository.hkbu.edu.hk/etd_ra/98.
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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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Yeh, Ling-Miao. "Determination of legitimate speakers of English in ESL discourse social-cultural aspects of selected issues - power, subjectivity and equality /." Connect to this title online, 2004. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc%5Fnum=osu1092350762.
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Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2004.Document formatted into pages; contains 299 p. Includes bibliographical references. Abstract available online via OhioLINK's ETD Center; full text release delayed at author's request until 2007 Aug. 13.
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Richards, Donna Jean. "Prestige and standard in Canadian English : Prestige and standard in Canadian English :." Thesis, University of British Columbia, 1988. http://hdl.handle.net/2429/29172.
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A survey of the use of standard and prestige in general descriptions of English, and of Canadian English in particular, reveals terminological confusion caused by the similarity of the two concepts and by cultural differences among the national dialects being discussed. This work argues, however, that these concepts can and should be distinguished. Once working definitions for both terms are formulated, they are tested against data from the Survey of Vancouver English. Vancouver English reveals little or no evidence of prestige, defined as "that variety (or those forms) used by the highest socio-economic group and emulated by others." The absence of a highest socio-economic group sufficiently well established to provide forms for others to emulate may explain this result, since, in Vancouver, social homogeneity seems to complement the geographical homogeneity that typifies Canadian English. While Vancouver English does reveal evidence of standard, defined as "that variety used by the majority of speakers and typified by correctness," the evidence also suggests that the notion of standard may need to be refined. The effect of various social factors on correctness is analyzed in order to provide a more precise notion of what "correctness" reflects, and education is found to contribute significantly to correctness. Furthermore, consideration of the four processes of standardization -- selection, codification, elaboration of function and acceptance -- in Canadian English confirms the importance of education to standardization and suggests not only that a standard exists in Canadian English but also that Canadian English is a standard variety distinct from other varieties of English. Standard is thus redefined to reflect more directly the role of correctness and the centrality of the four processes to standardization. The study concludes with a brief reconsideration of standard and prestige in light of these Canadian findings and suggests directions for further research.Arts, Faculty of
English, Department of
Graduate
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Gaughan, Tara J. "Selling the pearl : an analysis of the language used in the marketing of Hong Kong to tourists /." Thesis, Hong Kong : University of Hong Kong, 2001. http://sunzi.lib.hku.hk/hkuto/record.jsp?B23424515.
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Tang, Yu-kwong, and 鄧宇光. "Chinese education and the prestige of English." Thesis, The University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong), 2000. http://hub.hku.hk/bib/B31952847.
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Rahman, Omar. "Language, culture, and the fundamental attribution error." Virtual Press, 2001. http://liblink.bsu.edu/uhtbin/catkey/1217390.
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Previous research has shown that language differences can cause cognitive differences, and that. the availability of certain lexical terms can predispose individuals to certain ways of thinking. The fundamental attribution error (FAE), or the tendency to favor dispositional over situational explanations, is more common in Western, individualistic cultures than in Eastern, collectivist ones. In this study, bilingual South Asian-Americans read scenarios, in English and in Urdu, and rated the extent to which target individuals and situational variables were responsible for the events. It was hypothesized that the availability of a dispositional word in the language of presentation would predispose participants to commit the FAE. Results did not support that hypothesis. However, there was some indication that familiarity with a language increases the tendency to commit the FAE. Possible reasons for the findings are discussed.Department of Psychological Science
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Horvath, Veronika. "Errors and judgments : a sociolinguistic study of freshman composition." Virtual Press, 1996. http://liblink.bsu.edu/uhtbin/catkey/1027109.
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This study attempts to discover and describe patterns of variation in college students' overt attitudes toward a limited set of grammatical and lexical variables, the shibboleths of edited written American English usage. The basic instrument used in the study is a 115 item multiple choice questionnaire prepared by the researcher. Fifteen questions were designed to assess the respondents' social, economic, and demographic backgrounds, whereas the major part of the questionnaire elicited judgments about one hundred English sentences offering the choice between the attributes "good," "bad," and "I can't decide." This questionnaire was administered to 172 students in nine freshman composition classes during the spring semester of 1994 at Ball State University. The study sought to discover and describe systematic relationships between the answers to the first set of questions (extralinguistic data) and the second set of questions (linguistic data) by using various analytical methods and statistical techniques, such as correlation coefficients, chi-square tests, and multidimensional scaling.It was hypothesized that variation in subjects' overt judgments about linguistic variables would parallel the findings of numerous sociolinguistic studies about variation in linguistic production, and hence would pattern along the social and demographic characteristics of the subjects. However, although this study found considerable variation in the freshman students' judgments about the usage shibboleths, it did not find social or demographic correlates to the respondents' judgments.By investigating the nature of the variation in freshman composition students' notions about linguistic correctness, this study attempted to answer questions which have not been asked by traditional usage studies, sociolinguistics, or composition research. Moreover, this study has added support for linguists' claims that the traditional "mistakes" in usage handbooks have almost no empirical basis, even if they remain the favorites of most handbook authors and English teachers.Department of English
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Iedema, Roderick. "Interactional dynamics and social change : planning as morphogenesis." University of Sydney, 1997. http://hdl.handle.net/2123/1687.
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Doctor of PhilosophyThis thesis looks at social interaction from the point of view of social-institutional process. In doing so, it aims to account for i) how broader institutional processes are instantiated in local interaction, and ii) how western technologisation (in the Foucaultian sense) relates to or is instantiated in local interaction.
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Feng, Fang Fang Zoe. "Language attitudes towards Guanzhong dialect, Putonghua and English between two different generations of Xi'an local residents." Thesis, University of Macau, 2018. http://umaclib3.umac.mo/record=b3953746.
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Aylward, Louise. "Imperialist subtexts? : cultural assumptions and linguistic imperialism in Hong Kong ELT textbooks /." Thesis, Hong Kong : University of Hong Kong, 1998. http://sunzi.lib.hku.hk/hkuto/record.jsp?B20272686.
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Ho, Victor Chung Kwong. "Making requests : how Cantonese speakers of English demonstrate politeness." HKBU Institutional Repository, 2003. http://repository.hkbu.edu.hk/etd_ra/499.
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Chiro, Giancarlo. "The activation and evaluation of Italian language and culture in a group of tertiary students of Italian ancestry in Australia /." Title page, abstract and table of contents only, 1998. http://web4.library.adelaide.edu.au/theses/09PH/09phc541.pdf.
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Kazemi, Ali School of Modern Language Studies UNSW. "A systematic study of self-repairs in second language classroom presentations: with some reference to social variables and language proficiency." Awarded by:University of New South Wales. School of Modern Language Studies, 2006. http://handle.unsw.edu.au/1959.4/24298.
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Self-repairs have been the subject of investigation in a number of research areas, notably psycholinguistics and conversation analysis. This study has aimed at the examination of self-repairs in second language classroom presentations. Specifically, it has sought to gain insight into self-repairs in naturally occurring talk and to explicate the possible relationships between the variables of age, sex, and educational background and self-repair behaviour of L2 speakers as well as the possible link between self-repair and proficiency. Accomplishing these required a scrutiny of individual self-repairs and their classification. However, the classifications which have traditionally been used in the psycholinguistic approach suffer from a number of shortcomings, as they are usually based on the analysis of surface forms of self-repairs. Because of the subjectivity involved in this process, there has been considerable variation in terms of classes of self-repairs and also the decision as to where a given self-repair belongs. An in-depth analysis of self-repair data revealed that self-repairs do cluster into categories. This analysis also yielded a set of features which are relevant to the study of self-repairs. In addition to showing that the established categories are mutually exclusive, comparison of major categories of self-repairs according to these features, which characterise the trajectory of self-repairs, resulted in the explication of a number of regularities in the way L2 speakers carry out self-repairs. Having established a data-driven classification of repairs, an attempt was made to see whether learner variables of age, sex and educational background have any significant effect on self-repairs. It turned out that none of these variables have a significant effect on self-repairs. In addition, it became clear that while beginning, intermediate, and advanced L2 speakers have been shown to demonstrate significant proficiency-related differences, these differences fade away when they come from the same proficiency level.
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Shen, Jin. "On translation of swearwords from English to Chinese : a case study on subtitling Terminator I-IV." Thesis, University of Macau, 2011. http://umaclib3.umac.mo/record=b2525845.
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Song, Ai Jia Linda. "A study of language attitudes of high school students in Zhuhai towards Putonghua, Cantonese and English." Thesis, University of Macau, 2018. http://umaclib3.umac.mo/record=b3953726.
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Lee, Ya-Chi. "Promoting creative English teaching using Chinese culture for elementary schooling in Taiwan." CSUSB ScholarWorks, 2001. https://scholarworks.lib.csusb.edu/etd-project/2952.
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To make English an interesting subject for elementary school students, teachers need to know what material attracts students, how to motivate students, and how to release students' creativity. Therefore, This project incorporates the concepts of multiple intelligences, motivation, culture and language, and development of creativity to provide a model for promoting creative English teaching in the elementary schools of Taiwan. In addition, the content of the unit, based on Chinese culture and the comparison of Chinese and American cultures, is an innovative curriculum designed to motivate students to learn English.
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Lam, Kai Chong. "English in post-1999 Macau : the functions and status of English." Thesis, University of Macau, 2007. http://umaclib3.umac.mo/record=b1783379.
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Lewis, Robert Michael. "Wenglish, the dialect of the South Wales Valleys, as a medium for narrative and performance." Thesis, University of South Wales, 2010. https://pure.southwales.ac.uk/en/studentthesis/wenglish-the-dialect-of-the-south-wales-valleys-as-a-medium-for-narrative-and-performance(d67bd5e7-9190-4c57-b023-4e1bf3abb491).html.
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This study examines the characteristics of a range of narrative and performance texts featuring Wenglish, the dialect of the South Wales Valleys, in terms of their linguistic and thematic content and their relation to the community. Part One comprises an introduction to Wenglish and an overview of research on English in South Wales and approaches to language in use. In Part Two the results of textual and discourse analysis of twenty-five texts (nine literary and seven formal performance excerpts and nine personal narratives) are presented. In Part Three insights arising from analysis are applied in three pieces of new creative work in dialect. A reference list of texts containing Wenglish is appended. Cultural outputs mirror and express the community which produces them and thus the formal and informal literary output of the South Wales Valleys both reflects and expresses some of the shared characteristics, values, beliefs and preoccupations of those communities. Analysis revealed recurrent thematic clusters (e.g. community, personal identity, world of work, sport) across the range of texts, suggesting the centrality of these themes and a close link between the texts and the community. From analysis of linguistic content, a ‘Wenglish index’ was calculated for each text. The literary texts generally had lower indices than the formal performance texts. The personal narratives, though informal, all had lower indices than the formal performance material, suggesting that in this latter category, dialect features are consciously exaggerated. Discourse analytical methods generated rich interpretive material at the level of individual texts. Insights from analysis proved useful at the initial and editing phases of new creative work. The possible practical application of Wenglish material in community and interpretive projects is also discussed.
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Huang, Hsiao-Juo. "Enunciative identity in elementary English as a foreign language." CSUSB ScholarWorks, 2005. https://scholarworks.lib.csusb.edu/etd-project/40.
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How to improve the skill of speaking English is a major challenge for English learners in Taiwan nowadays. This project focuses on issues of pronunciation as the starting point to examine the problems of learning English, and issues of identity transformation in the language-learning process. Then it addresses the concept of enunciation as a way to facilitate English learners to establish their confidence in, and ownership of, the target language. This project is designed not only for discussing issues of improving the teaching and learning of English pronunciation, but also for explicating how students can gain their own voices and define their subjectivity during their English-learning process.
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Howell, Ellen Sook Hyang. "Life experiences that influence language acquisition in generation 1.5 students." CSUSB ScholarWorks, 2006. https://scholarworks.lib.csusb.edu/etd-project/3100.
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The study examines the life and educational experiences of five Generation 1.5 students at California State University, San Bernardino and analyzes how the first cultural socialization affects later English academic language learning. The study used three methods of gathering data: a survey questionnaire, participant-observation, and one-on-one interviews. The study also reviews other case studies that describe life and educational experiences as well as the language and cultural connections of Generation 1.5 students. An analysis of lexical, structural and interactional differences of the spoken and written modes of the English language is also included. The study's findings indicate that learning the vocabulary of the written language was a key factor in being a member of the academic community.
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Wong, Tai-yuen Albert, and 黃大元. "A study of cognition in context: the composing strategies of advanced writers in an academic context." Thesis, The University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong), 2000. http://hub.hku.hk/bib/B31242443.
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Tang, M. C., and 鄧美珠. "An investigation into the language used in meetings: applying discourse analysis to English panel meetings ina Hong Kong school." Thesis, The University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong), 2004. http://hub.hku.hk/bib/B29649651.
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English, Joel Alexander. "Assessing the synchronous online classroom : methodologies and findings in real-time virtual learning environments." Virtual Press, 1999. http://liblink.bsu.edu/uhtbin/catkey/1137523.
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In "Technology and Literacy: A Story about the Perils of Not Paying Attention," Cynthia Selfe charges the field of composition not to simply consider technology a tool, but to "pay attention" to the rhetorical and social implications of those tools. In one sense, paying critical attention to technological literacies echoes the decade-old call for Computers and Writing practitioners to use research as a means of assessing online activities, suggesting that teachers not remain satisfied with the unreflective excitement that has been the operative epistemology of the field from its beginning. In another sense, Selfe's recent call enlists teachers and students in reflective and evaluative class discussion and writing on the technological literacy tools they are learning to use.This dissertation responds to both of these implications as it studies a semester of first-year college composition students within a synchronous online classroom environment. The question that guides my study is, in its most basic form, what happens during synchronous online writing conferences? And to speak to that question, I design an ethnographic context-sensitive text analysis employing grounded theory for data coding, a methodological model adaptable for future research in synchronous online classroom activity. I focus on three issues that have continually arisen in the scholarship surrounding synchronous conferencing: aspects of online language, the implications of the environment within object-oriented MUDs (MOOs), and the use of social constructionism as a theoretical foundation for synchronous conferencing.With the findings from my study, I conclude the dissertation by offering pedagogical suggestions to teachers and students for critically assessing synchronous online discourse. My articulation of assessment mandates that students and teachers engage in it together, collaboratively reflecting on what happens online and learning about synchronous online discourse-a significant ingredient in contemporary literacy.Department of English
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Imaeda, Chieko. "Cross-cultural pragmatics: Politeness for the customer in spoken aspects of service in the restaurant in Australian English and Japanese." Thesis, Edith Cowan University, Research Online, Perth, Western Australia, 2002. https://ro.ecu.edu.au/theses/755.
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In listening to members of different cultures, it is possible to feel bad, even while recognising that the speaker is trying to speak politely. Sometimes we do not feel very comfortable with someone else’s speech, even though their expressions might be very polite with the choice of specific linguistic forms to show a high level of formality such as terms of address and specific types of formulaic expression such as ' I (don 't) think ... ' or ' I (don't) believe' . The speaker may be intending to speak politely in a considerate way. But the hearer's reaction may be quite different.
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Archer, Erika. "Attitudes and practices regarding the generic masculine pronouns in Hong Kong." Thesis, Hong Kong : University of Hong Kong, 1997. http://sunzi.lib.hku.hk/hkuto/record.jsp?B19739850.
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Poon, Jeanya Chermainea, and 潘君雅. "The role of English language teaching in Hong Kong: linguistic imperialism or linguistic empowerment?" Thesis, The University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong), 2003. http://hub.hku.hk/bib/B26815655.
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Tam, King Wa. "Labour, social and health outcomes of immigrants in Australia : effects of language proficiency using the IV approach." Thesis, Queensland University of Technology, 2012. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/60256/1/King_Wa_Tam_Thesis.pdf.
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Language has been of interest to numerous economists since the late 20th century, with the majority of the studies focusing on its effects on immigrants’ labour market outcomes; earnings in particular. However, language is an endogenous variable, which along with its susceptibility to measurement error causes biases in ordinary-least-squares estimates. The instrumental variables method overcomes the shortcomings of ordinary least squares in modelling endogenous explanatory variables. In this dissertation, age at arrival combined with country of origin form an instrument creating a difference-in-difference scenario, to address the issue of endogeneity and attenuation error in language proficiency. The first half of the study aims to investigate the extent to which English speaking ability of immigrants improves their labour market outcomes and social assimilation in Australia, with the use of the 2006 Census. The findings have provided evidence that support the earlier studies. As expected, immigrants in Australia with better language proficiency are able to earn higher income, attain higher level of education, have higher probability of completing tertiary studies, and have more hours of work per week. Language proficiency also improves social integration, leading to higher probability of marriage to a native and higher probability of obtaining citizenship. The second half of the study further investigates whether language proficiency has similar effects on a migrant’s physical and mental wellbeing, health care access and lifestyle choices, with the use of three National Health Surveys. However, only limited evidence has been found with respect to the hypothesised causal relationship between language and health for Australian immigrants.
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Kim, Backyoung. "Autonomous elementary English learning in Korea using mediated structures." CSUSB ScholarWorks, 2004. https://scholarworks.lib.csusb.edu/etd-project/2449.
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Gajjout, Hassane. "Strategic politeness enactment in first and foreign language acquisition: with soecial reference to moroccan learners of english." Doctoral thesis, Universite Libre de Bruxelles, 1996. http://hdl.handle.net/2013/ULB-DIPOT:oai:dipot.ulb.ac.be:2013/212282.
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Spinuzzi, Clay I. (Clay Ian). "Appropriating Language on the Usenet." Thesis, University of North Texas, 1994. https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc501079/.
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The Usenet is a global computer conferencing system on which users can affix textual messages under 4500 different categories. It currently has approximately 4,165,000 readers, and these .readers have appropriated language by adapting it to the Usenet's culture and medium. This thesis conceptualizes the Usenet community's appropriation of language, provides insights into how media and media restrictions cause their users to appropriate language, and discusses how future media may further cause users to appropriate language. With the Usenet we have a chance to study a relatively new community bound by relatively new technology, and perhaps we can learn more about the appropriation process by studying the two.
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Righi, Eliana Maria Rojas Cabrini 1963. "A ciência não fala português = as línguas auxiliares na produção científica." [s.n.], 2011. http://repositorio.unicamp.br/jspui/handle/REPOSIP/280863.
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Orientador: Renato José Pinto OrtizTese (doutorado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Filosofia e Ciências Humanas
Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-19T13:15:39Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Righi_ElianaMariaRojasCabrini_D.pdf: 2323620 bytes, checksum: b01f08deedd8d9c67513e30905fa5c1c (MD5) Previous issue date: 2011
Resumo: Este estudo se insere nas reflexões e embates entre localismos e globalismos da sociedade mundializada. Visamos especificamente ao universo da produção científica, que se desenvolve além dos espaços e instituições nacionais, através do uso de línguas auxiliares para as trocas linguísticas. A abordagem atravessa a disciplinarização do conhecimento, de modo que a pesquisa foi feita na intersecção das ciências da linguagem tais como a linguística e a sociolinguística com a sociologia, considerando-se que os fatores que conferem a certos idiomas o status de línguas francas são eminentemente sociopolíticos. Para descrever a problemática do uso de línguas auxiliares nas ciências e seus desdobramentos como a relação estreita entre o déficit comunicativo na divulgação científica em língua estrangeira e a produtividade e visibilidade científicas nós analisamos vários indicadores relacionados às práticas de produção de gêneros textuais da ciência dos pesquisadores da Universidade Estadual de Campinas, quando produzidos em línguas estrangeiras em geral e em língua inglesa em particular. Coletamos dados do curriculum Lattes de pesquisadores, entrevistas, perfil numérico de leitura de periódicos eletrônicos e comparação textual de artigos científicos, visando compor uma descrição abrangente das práticas linguísticas na comunicação científica e suas problemáticas. Esse levantamento permitiu esclarecer a relação entre o conhecimento de línguas estrangeiras e a publicação acadêmica internacional, discutir a centralidade da língua inglesa no mundo científico, elencando aspectos sociológicos pouco problematizados que se originam desta supremacia, elucidar convergências entre alterações nos usos linguísticos com aquelas do cenário histórico-social que as precede, além de comparar as diferenças de uso de determinadas línguas nas ciências humanas e nas Ciências da Natureza. Levando-se em conta a importância do desenvolvimento técnico-científico para a sociedade mundial, tal estudo se justifica pela urgência de se conhecer os usos sociais das línguas estrangeiras nesta área, bem como as possíveis limitações linguísticas que possam comprometer nossa condição de produtores de ciência
Abstract: This study reflects the debates between localisms and globalisms of the globalized society. We aim specifically at the universe of scientific production which develops itself beyond national spaces and institutions through the use of auxiliary languages for linguistic exchange. The approach disregards disciplinarization so that this research was performed in the intersection between linguistic sciences such as linguistics and sociolinguistics and sociology, considering that factors which attribute the status of lingua franca to certain languages are chiefly sociopolitical. To describe the issue of using auxiliary languages in science as well as its consequences such as the tight link between communicative deficit in scientific publication and scientific productivity and visibility we analyzed some sociological problems observed in the production of scientific texts by researchers at the State University of Campinas, when they are produced in foreign languages in general and in English language in particular, and we have produced, from a sociological view, a comprising description of scientific language practices and the issues related to them, using different indicators, for instance, researcher's curricula data, interviews, a numeric profile of electronic journal reading and text comparison. These elements have allowed us to establish some correlation between foreign language knowledge and international academic publication, to discuss the centrality of the English language in the scientific world, to clarify existing convergences between changes in language uses and those in the historical-social scenery that preceded them and to compare differences in the use of certain languages in Human and Natural Sciences. Taking into account the importance of the technicalscientific development for the world society such study justifies itself for the urge of knowing social uses of foreign languages in this field, as well as potential linguistic limitations which can not only jeopardize the local scientific production, as well as our condition as science producers
Doutorado
Sociologia
Doutor em Sociologia
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Ikeda, Kazuko. "A descriptive study of the relationship between cultural sensitivity in the acculturation process and the second language learning process." PDXScholar, 1985. https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/open_access_etds/3442.
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This is a study to investigate the association between the cultural sensitivity in the acculturation process and the second language learning process. This study is also a partial replication of the study by William Acton (1979) who developed the Professed Difference in Attitudes Questionnaire (PDAQ), which is utilized as a measurement instrument in this study. Acton's concept of socio-cultural equidistant is interpreted from the intercultural communication point of view. The results of the hypothesis testing are inconclusive and incongruous with Acton's study.
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Bester, Zaan. "An investigation into the ability of South African students at Stellenbosch University to interpret implicatures in their second language English." Thesis, Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/71635.
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Thesis (MPhil)--Stellenbosch University, 2012.ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Due to increasing concern about the low levels of throughput at university level, and with an ever-growing awareness of the important role that students’ academic literacy plays in academic success, Stellenbosch University implemented language support courses in various faculties across the campus. In addition, the massification of higher education means that the demographic profile of the student population in university classrooms has changed, and lecturers are increasingly faced with students from a variety of multicultural contexts. It is within this context that a study was done to determine to what extent linguistic and cultural background affects a speaker’s ability to derive meaning from conversational and, by extension, academic implicatures in English. Previous studies have found that native speakers (NSs) and nonnative speakers (NNSs) of English infer different meanings when confronted with particular types of implicature and that NNSs tend to interpret certain types of implicature correctly more often than others. First-year students at Stellenbosch University with a variety of mother tongues were asked to complete a questionnaire containing various types of implicatures. Their responses indicated significant differences in the accuracy with which NSs and NNSs interpreted certain types of implicatures, and in the meanings they arrived at. The thesis considers possible reasons for these differences, and discusses the implications of the study’s results for academic literacy/language support courses offered at South African universities.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Te midde van toenemende kommer oor die lae deurvloeikoerse op universiteitsvlak, en ’n al groter bewustheid van die beduidende impak van studente se akademiese geletterdheid op akademiese sukses, het die Universiteit Stellenbosch taalondersteuningskursusse in verskeie fakulteite op kampus geïmplementeer. Daarbenewens het die massifikasie van tersiêre onderwys tot gevolg dat die demografiese profiel van die studentebevolking in universiteitsklaskamers verander het, en dosente kom toenemend in aanraking met studente vanuit diverse kulturele kontekste. Binne hierdie konteks is ’n studie onderneem om vas te stel in watter mate ’n spreker se vermoë om die betekenis van geïmpliseerde taalgebruik (in alledaagse gesprekke en by implikasie ook akademiese taal) te bepaal, deur taal en kulturele agtergrond beïnvloed word. Navorsing het getoon dat moedertaalsprekers en nie-moedertaalsprekers van Engels verskillende betekenisse toeken wanneer hulle met sekere tipes geïmpliseerde taalgebruik in aanraking kom, en dat nie-moedertaalsprekers sekere tipes geïmpliseerde taalgebruik meer dikwels korrek interpreteer as ander. Eerstejaarstudente aan die Universiteit Stellenbosch met ’n verskeidenheid moedertale is gevra om ’n vraelys met verskillende tipes geïmpliseerde taalgebruik te voltooi. Die response het getoon dat daar beduidende verskille is in die akkuraatheid waarmee moedertaalsprekers en nie-moedertaalsprekers sekere tipes geïmpliseerde taal interpreteer, en in die betekenisse wat hulle daaraan toeken. Die tesis bespreek moontlike redes vir hierdie verskille, sowel as die implikasies van die studie se resultate vir akademiese geletterdheids- /taalondersteuningskursusse wat by Suid-Afrikaanse universiteite aangebied word.
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MacNaughton, Andrew. "Company and personal character in the Eikaiwa industry an ethnography of a private language school in Japan /." Thesis, Click to view the E-thesis via HKUTO, 2008. http://sunzi.lib.hku.hk/hkuto/record/B39848966.
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Cheung, Wai-ling Sonia, and 張慧玲. "A contrastive discourse analysis of warnings." Thesis, The University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong), 2001. http://hub.hku.hk/bib/B30409202.
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De, Koning Joanne. "Perceptions of “new Englishes”: responses to the use of Swazi English in newspapers in Swaziland." Thesis, Stellenbosch : University of Stellenbosch, 2009. http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/2798.
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MPhilThe concept of ‘new Englishes’ developed as a result of the relatively new perception of English as an adapting and evolving language within increasingly wider global contexts. According to McArthur (1992:688) the term “new Englishes” refers to "recently emerging and increasingly autonomous variet[ies] of English, especially in a non-western setting, such as India, Nigeria, or Singapore." Such varieties of English develop from an English, traditionally recognised as standard, to become distinctly individual: they retain some cultural and linguistic characteristics of the standard English but additionally represent and include many aspects of the culture and language of the country in which the new English functions. These new Englishes are lexico-grammatically sophisticated and as viable as any of the traditionally recognised standard Englishes. The “new languages” are used intranationally and internationally and so are not only a result of intercultural communication; they also facilitate and enable intercultural communication. This thesis investigates (i) Swazi English (SwE) as a ‘New English’ and (ii) the perceptions that Swazis themselves, as well as speakers from other language communities, have of SwE and its users. Swaziland is a landlocked country in the northeast region of Southern Africa and one of the last remaining monarchies on the African continent. English was introduced to Swaziland during the 1800’s and remained one of the official languages alongside siSwati after Swaziland achieved independence from Britain in 1968. English in Swaziland continued to develop despite increasingly restricted access to input from English first language speakers of British descent thus resulting in SwE developing independently of any external norm. SwE now appears to be a stable variety of English that is not only spoken but also written in newspapers, in government and legal correspondence and in the public relations documents of Swazi companies. The research for this thesis identifies a number of lexical, syntactic and semantic features of SwE that are different from those of standard British or American English. These features of SwE occur frequently and consistently in newspaper articles. Nevertheless, as indicated by the research results of this thesis, SwE continues to be perceived as an error-ridden second language variety rather than as a new English in its own right. Furthermore, the language prejudice is extended to users of SwE as many judge the intelligence, credibility and trustworthiness of writers of SwE negatively on the basis of linguistic features that cannot be indicators of character, skill or competence. This prejudice gives rise to stereotyping which is a barrier to effective intercultural communication.
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Koh, Ernest Wee Song. "Singapore stories - language and class in Singapore : an investigation into the socio-economic implications of English literacy as a life chance among the Chinese of Singapore from 1945 to 2000." University of Western Australia. Asian Studies Discipline Group, 2007. http://theses.library.uwa.edu.au/adt-WU2007.0196.
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This thesis is an investigation into the socio-economic effects of English literacy among the Chinese of Singapore between 1945 and 2000. Through the use of oral history, statistical evidence, and existing secondary literature on the conditions of everyday life in Singapore, it explores how English literacy as a life chance has played a key role in shaping the class structures that exist among the Chinese in Singapore today. Adopting a 'perspective from below', this study provides a historical account that surveys the experiences of everyday life in Singapore through the stories of everyday life. It seeks to present an account that more accurately reflects the nation's nuanced past through defining eras in Singapore's post-war history 'Singapore Stories' in the plural, as opposed to the singular. Viewing the impact of English literacy through the prism of Max Weber's concept of life chances allows an examination of the opportunities in the lives of the interviewees cited within by distinguishing between negotiated and corralled life chances. The overarching argument made by this study is that in the later stages of Singapore's postwar history and development, English literacy was a critical factor that allowed individuals to negotiate key opportunities in life, thus increasing the likelihood of socioeconomic mobility. For those without English literacy, the range of possibilities in life became increasingly restricted, corralling individuals into a less affluent economic state. While acknowledging the significance of structural forces, and in particular the shaping influence of industrialisation, economic policy, and social engineering, this study also demonstrates how regarding the Singapore Chinese as possessing a variety of distinguishing social and economic characteristics, all of which serve to segment the community as an ethnic group, adds a new and critical dimension to our academic understanding of the nation's social past and present. By locating areas of resistance and the development of life strategies by an individual or household, this thesis illustrates how language, literacy, and class operated within the reality of undefined and multilayered historical spaces among the Chinese of Singapore.
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Vigliotti, Jeanette C. "The Double Sighted: Visibility, Identity, and Photographs on Facebook." UNF Digital Commons, 2014. http://digitalcommons.unf.edu/etd/506.
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The primary objective of this analysis is to uncover the tools of Facebook identity construction. Because Facebook users have the ability to control the images and information associated with their profiles, reactionary scholars typically classify Facebook identity as a symptom of cultural narcissism. However, I seek to displace the fixation on the newness of the medium in order to interrogate the possibility of a society that has internalized surveillance. Using Michel Foucault’s theories on panopticism and heterotopia, I examine the role photographs play in the construction of an individual on Facebook, and the ways in which user photographs are positioned into social memory construction.