Rozprawy doktorskie na temat „Success discourse”

This thesis takes the position that once schools and school systems adopt reform programs,the values and meanings inherent in those programs create and perpetuate powerful forms of discourse that characterize the projects themselves, evoke loyalty and commitment and may ultimately serve to stifle other voices. The thesis examines several primary schools involved with the Children’s Literacy Success Strategy (CLaSS) in the Victorian Catholic Education system. It is an analysis of the dominant discourse created and perpetuated by the CLaSS documentation, education officers, principals, and classroom teachers. The study characterizes the nature of that discourse and explores its effects on the work of teachers, principals, and on school improvement. The analysis proposed in no way disparages CLaSS itself, nor does it seek to judge its objectives, or offer a critique of the specific methods used to improve literacy. Rather, it advocates that genuine school improvement requires one to step outside the circle of discourse engendered by reform programs such as CLaSS which promote a ‘single minded’ discourse about themselves and that which the school is attempting. When programs such as CLaSS are introduced into schools as part of a sector wide reform agenda they are expected to provide proof of improved results in order to justify the financial investment associated with the initiative. The values and beliefs of the reform initiative are expected to be accepted by school systems usually without question (Apple, 2000). The effects of such unquestioned acceptance of particular values are examined in the current study. As schools are expected to accept programs like CLaSS in their entirety, it is not possible within the rhetoric of CLaSS to select what elements of the program to adopt. This appears to lead to the creation and perpetuation of an ‘officially’ sanctioned way of thinking about school reform and teaching. Proponents of reform programs may argue that such sanctions are a necessary feature of whole school reform programs and provide a focus for energy and activism, for winning people’s support, and for conveying to parents and the wider school community a sense of purposeful action and rational planning. However, these dominant discourses seem to obscure other perspectives, disallowing critique and preventing reflective discourse and analysis. Indeed, this study holds that genuine school reform requires schools to break out of the imprisonment of dominant discourses and remain open to critical reflection

This thesis examines the cultural models and discourses that a group of aspiring, primary school teachers in South-East Queensland employed to explain their current world and describe the likely development of their own careers and lives. Thirteen males and fifty-seven females, aged between 15 and 25, were involved in the study. All participants had expressed an interest in preservice teacher training with 77 percent of the cohort currently enrolled in a teacher-training program in the South-East region of Queensland, Australia. This study adopted a multi-method approach to data collection and included informal interviews, scenario planning workshops, focus groups, and a telephone survey. Initial pilot studies, incorporating informal interviews, preceded scenario planning workshops. Four males and eleven females were involved in six scenario planning groups. The scenario planning format, based upon Schwartz (1991), followed a seven-step approach whereby participants formulated and evaluated four possible future scenarios for Australia. These formed the stimulus material for the second stage of the study where thirteen focus groups critically analysed the scenario planning data. Interpretation of the data was underpinned by a framework based on an amalgamation of Gee's (1999) theoretical concepts of acts of meaning, cultural models, and Discourses and Bernstein's (1996) theoretical concepts of classification, framing, and realisation and recognition rules. The respondents exhibited five pre-eminent Discourses. These were a Technologies Discourse, Educational Discourse, Success Discourse, Voyeuristic Discourse, and an Oppositional Discourse. The group's Technologies Discourse was pervasive and influenced their future predictions for Australian society, themselves, and education and was expressed in both positive and negative terms. The respondents spoke of their current and future relationship to technologies in positive terms while they spoke of society's future relationship to technologies in negative terms. Their reactions to technologies were appropriated from two specific cultural resources. In the first instance this appears to be from their personal positive interactions with technologies. In the second instance the group have drawn from Science Fiction Discourses to predict malevolent and controlling technologies of the future. The respondents' Technologies Discourse is also evident in their Educational Discourse. They predict that their future classrooms will be more technological and that they, as teaching professionals, will be technologically literate and proficient. Their past experiences with education and schooling systems has also influenced their Educational Discourse and led them to assume, paradoxically, that while the process of education is and will continue to be a force for change, schools will not evidence a great deal of change in the coming years. The respondents were optimistic and confident about themselves, their current interactions with technologies, their future lives, and their future careers. These dispositions formed part of their Success Discourse and manifested as heroism, idealism, and a belief in utopian personal futures. The respondents' Voyeuristic Discourse assumed limited social engagement and a limited ability to accept responsibility for the past, present, and future. The respondents had adopted an 'onlooker' approach to society. This aspect of their Discourse appeared to be mutable and showed signs of tempering as the respondents matured and became more involved in their teaching careers. Finally, the respondents' Oppositional Discourse clearly delineated between themselves and 'others'. They were users of technologies, teachers, good people, young, privileged, white, Australian, and urban dwelling while 'others' were controllers of technologies, learners, bad people, older or younger, non-privileged, non-Australian, and country dwelling. Current reforms introduced by Education Queensland have stressed the need for a new approach to new times, new economies, and new workplaces. This involves having a capacity to envisage new forms, new structures, and new relationships. 'New times' teaching professionals are change agents who are socially critical, socially responsible, risk takers, able to negotiate a constantly changing knowledge-rich society, flexible, creative, innovative, reflexive, and collaborative (Sachs, 2003). The respondents in this study did not appear to be change agents or future activist teaching professionals (Sachs, 2003). Rather, they were inclined towards reproducing historical, traditional, and conservative social and professional roles as well as practices, and maintaining a safe distance from social and environmental responsibility. Essentially, the group had responded to a period of rapid social and cultural change by placing themselves outside of change forces. Successful educational reform and implementation, such as that being proposed by Education Queensland (2000), demands that all interested stakeholders share a common vision (Fullan, 1993). The respondents' Discourses indicated that they did not exhibit a futures vision beyond their immediate selves. This limited vision was at odds with that being espoused by Education Queensland (2000). This body recognises the importance of being able to envisage, develop, and sustain preferable futures visions and have developed futures oriented curricula with this in mind. Such curricula are said to respond to the changing needs of today's and tomorrow's society by having problem solving and the concept of lifelong learning at the core. The future towards which the respondents aspire is one where lifelong learning and problem solving have little significance beyond their need to stay current with evolving technologies. In reflecting on the respondents' viewpoints and the range of Discourses that they draw upon to accommodate their changing world, I propose a number of recommendations for policy makers and educators. It is recommended that preservice teacher training institutions take up the challenge of equipping future teachers with the skills, knowledges, and dispositions needed to be responsible, reflective, and proactive educators who are able to envisage and work towards preferable visions of schooling and society. Ideally, this could occur through mandatory Futures Studies courses. Currently, Futures Studies courses are not seen as an essential area of study within education degrees and as such preservice teachers are given little opportunity to engage with futures concepts, knowledges, or skills. The success of the scenario planning approach in this thesis and the richness of the issues raised through interactive engagement in imagining possible futures, suggests that all citizens, but particularly teachers, need to enlighten their imaginations more often through such processes.

This thesis examines the cultural models and discourses that a group of aspiring, primary school teachers in South-East Queensland employed to explain their current world and describe the likely development of their own careers and lives. Thirteen males and fifty-seven females, aged between 15 and 25, were involved in the study. All participants had expressed an interest in preservice teacher training with 77 percent of the cohort currently enrolled in a teacher-training program in the South-East region of Queensland, Australia. This study adopted a multi-method approach to data collection and included informal interviews, scenario planning workshops, focus groups, and a telephone survey. Initial pilot studies, incorporating informal interviews, preceded scenario planning workshops. Four males and eleven females were involved in six scenario planning groups. The scenario planning format, based upon Schwartz (1991), followed a seven-step approach whereby participants formulated and evaluated four possible future scenarios for Australia. These formed the stimulus material for the second stage of the study where thirteen focus groups critically analysed the scenario planning data. Interpretation of the data was underpinned by a framework based on an amalgamation of Gee's (1999) theoretical concepts of acts of meaning, cultural models, and Discourses and Bernstein's (1996) theoretical concepts of classification, framing, and realisation and recognition rules. The respondents exhibited five pre-eminent Discourses. These were a Technologies Discourse, Educational Discourse, Success Discourse, Voyeuristic Discourse, and an Oppositional Discourse. The group's Technologies Discourse was pervasive and influenced their future predictions for Australian society, themselves, and education and was expressed in both positive and negative terms. The respondents spoke of their current and future relationship to technologies in positive terms while they spoke of society's future relationship to technologies in negative terms. Their reactions to technologies were appropriated from two specific cultural resources. In the first instance this appears to be from their personal positive interactions with technologies. In the second instance the group have drawn from Science Fiction Discourses to predict malevolent and controlling technologies of the future. The respondents' Technologies Discourse is also evident in their Educational Discourse. They predict that their future classrooms will be more technological and that they, as teaching professionals, will be technologically literate and proficient. Their past experiences with education and schooling systems has also influenced their Educational Discourse and led them to assume, paradoxically, that while the process of education is and will continue to be a force for change, schools will not evidence a great deal of change in the coming years. The respondents were optimistic and confident about themselves, their current interactions with technologies, their future lives, and their future careers. These dispositions formed part of their Success Discourse and manifested as heroism, idealism, and a belief in utopian personal futures. The respondents' Voyeuristic Discourse assumed limited social engagement and a limited ability to accept responsibility for the past, present, and future. The respondents had adopted an 'onlooker' approach to society. This aspect of their Discourse appeared to be mutable and showed signs of tempering as the respondents matured and became more involved in their teaching careers. Finally, the respondents' Oppositional Discourse clearly delineated between themselves and 'others'. They were users of technologies, teachers, good people, young, privileged, white, Australian, and urban dwelling while 'others' were controllers of technologies, learners, bad people, older or younger, non-privileged, non-Australian, and country dwelling. Current reforms introduced by Education Queensland have stressed the need for a new approach to new times, new economies, and new workplaces. This involves having a capacity to envisage new forms, new structures, and new relationships. 'New times' teaching professionals are change agents who are socially critical, socially responsible, risk takers, able to negotiate a constantly changing knowledge-rich society, flexible, creative, innovative, reflexive, and collaborative (Sachs, 2003). The respondents in this study did not appear to be change agents or future activist teaching professionals (Sachs, 2003). Rather, they were inclined towards reproducing historical, traditional, and conservative social and professional roles as well as practices, and maintaining a safe distance from social and environmental responsibility. Essentially, the group had responded to a period of rapid social and cultural change by placing themselves outside of change forces. Successful educational reform and implementation, such as that being proposed by Education Queensland (2000), demands that all interested stakeholders share a common vision (Fullan, 1993). The respondents' Discourses indicated that they did not exhibit a futures vision beyond their immediate selves. This limited vision was at odds with that being espoused by Education Queensland (2000). This body recognises the importance of being able to envisage, develop, and sustain preferable futures visions and have developed futures oriented curricula with this in mind. Such curricula are said to respond to the changing needs of today's and tomorrow's society by having problem solving and the concept of lifelong learning at the core. The future towards which the respondents aspire is one where lifelong learning and problem solving have little significance beyond their need to stay current with evolving technologies. In reflecting on the respondents' viewpoints and the range of Discourses that they draw upon to accommodate their changing world, I propose a number of recommendations for policy makers and educators. It is recommended that preservice teacher training institutions take up the challenge of equipping future teachers with the skills, knowledges, and dispositions needed to be responsible, reflective, and proactive educators who are able to envisage and work towards preferable visions of schooling and society. Ideally, this could occur through mandatory Futures Studies courses. Currently, Futures Studies courses are not seen as an essential area of study within education degrees and as such preservice teachers are given little opportunity to engage with futures concepts, knowledges, or skills. The success of the scenario planning approach in this thesis and the richness of the issues raised through interactive engagement in imagining possible futures, suggests that all citizens, but particularly teachers, need to enlighten their imaginations more often through such processes.
Thesis (PhD Doctorate)
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
School of Education and Professional Studies
Full Text

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Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais
This study analyzes the discourse on the success produced in contemporary Brazilian society. The corpus consists of editions of the magazine Caras and arising from the self-help literature books. More precisely, our research aims to describe and interpret the success of senses and subjects production process, to the extent that this is built by discursive practices of media and self-help literature, considering the fact that these discursive fields are privileged place of establishment of new subjectivities and new desires. Thus, this research aims to: 1) understand the meanings and the subjects produced among media, more specifically, in the magazine "Faces" in the issues of the first half of 2013, focusing on language resources, enunciative and textual employed in discursive constitution its publications, seeking to infer its recurrence in the production of certain effects of sense of success and their relationship with the interlocutors; 2) understand the meanings and subjects made in self-help literature, filigree, books whose titles are O sucesso está no equilíbrio (2006), O sucesso passo a passo (2010) and O sucesso de amanhã começa hoje (2005), in order to interpret their operating modes as tutorials to rise to success; 3) analyze the relationship of differences and similarities between the senses and subject these two forms of (re) production and spread of successful speech. Thus, we consider the postulate of speech analysis of formulated as follows by Orlandi (2012, 88 p.): subject and constitute sense while being identification processes based on the fact that a movement identity is history . If the subject and the senses are simultaneously at the meeting of the tongue with history, this meaning, speech, subjects and meanings of success will also be produced by speech. Before this situation, we propose in this dissertation expose a brief investigation of the senses on the speech of success in the current Brazilian society. Therefore, the methodological procedures used in the development of this work are based on qualitative research, the development of which we seek to identify linguistic-discursive regularities of statements of success and interpret the production of its subjects and senses through the development of parafrastics chains in order to infer its discursive formations.
Este estudo analisa o discurso sobre o sucesso produzido na sociedade brasileira contemporânea. O corpus é constituído por edições da revista Caras e livros oriundos da literatura de autoajuda. Mais precisamente, nossa pesquisa pretende descrever e interpretar o processo de produção de sentidos e sujeitos de sucesso, na medida em que esses são construídos por práticas discursivas da mídia e da literatura de autoajuda, considerando o fato de que esses campos discursivos são lugares privilegiados de constituição de novas subjetividades e de novos desejos. Assim, a presente pesquisa tem por objetivos: 1) compreender os sentidos e os sujeitos produzidos no meio midiático, mais especificamente, na revista Caras nas edições do primeiro semestre de 2013, focalizando os recursos linguísticos, enunciativos e textuais empregados na constituição discursiva de suas publicações, buscando depreender sua recorrência na produção de determinados efeitos de sentido sobre o sucesso e a relação desses com os interlocutores; 2) compreender os sentidos e sujeitos fabricados na literatura de autoajuda, em filigrana, nos livros cujos títulos são O sucesso está no equilíbrio (2006), O sucesso passo a passo (2010) e O sucesso de amanhã começa hoje (2005), a fim de interpretar seus modos de funcionamento como tutoriais para ascensão ao sucesso; 3) analisar a relação de diferenças e similitudes entre os sentidos e sujeitos nessas duas formas de (re)produção e propagação do discurso de sucesso. Desse modo, consideramos o postulado da Análise do discurso formulado nos seguintes termos por Orlandi (2012, p. 88): sujeito e sentido se constituem ao mesmo tempo, estando os processos de identificação na base do fato de que identidade é um movimento na história . Se os sujeitos e os sentidos constituem-se simultaneamente no encontro da língua com a história, ou seja, no discurso, os sujeitos e os sentidos do sucesso também serão produzidos pelo discurso. Ante esse quadro, propomos neste trabalho expor uma breve investigação dos sentidos sobre o discurso do sucesso na atual sociedade brasileira. Portanto, os procedimentos metodológicos adotados no desenvolvimento deste trabalho têm como base a pesquisa qualitativa, no desenvolvimento da qual buscamos identificar regularidades linguístico-discursivas dos enunciados do sucesso e interpretar a produção de seus sujeitos e sentidos por meio da elaboração de cadeias parafrásticas, no intuito de depreender suas formações discursivas.

This thesis applies the theory and method of Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) to examine the ideological components of the First World Problems (FWP) and Third World Success (TWS) Internet memes. Drawing on analytical concepts from CDA and related perspectives, such as multimodal discourse analysis and social semiotics, the paper analyzes the visual and textual elements of a sample of the FWP and TWS memes. The paper argues that the text and images featured in the memes are ideologically salient and discursively construct oppositional binaries between “us” and “them” in terms of wealth disparity.
M.A.
Masters
Communication
Sciences
Communication; Mass Communication

The study was conceptualised against the background that leading migration theories explain return migration based on failure and success alone. The neo-classical economics theory of migration perceives return migration as a by-product of a failed migration experience while the new economics of labour migration perceives return as occurring after successful achievement of migration objectives. This study questions these theoretical positions through an exploration of the factors that deter South Africa-based Zimbabwean skilled migrants from returning home permanently notwithstanding a successful or failed migration experience. Furtive economic factors in Zimbabwe and South Africa that dissuade skilled migrants from returning home permanently are explored. Social factors in Zimbabwe and in South Africa that influence return migration decision making are also examined. Furthermore, the study analysed whether and how Zimbabwean skilled migrants are forced into a permanent settlement in South Africa as a result of what this study calls the ‘diaspora trap’. This ‘diaspora trap’ framework argues that Zimbabwean skilled migrants in South Africa do not return following their experiences of failure and success in South Africa. Central to the absence of return is the social construction of migrants as successful in Zimbabwe. Skilled migrants are deterred from returning due to their failure to meet family and communal expectations of success. In addition, return migration is deferred as a means to hide poverty in South Africa. Moreover, new diaspora family ties weaken attachments with Zimbabwe and contribute to deferred return migration. Skilled migrants are thus entrapped in South Africa by their failure to live up to the success social construct and the inability to mitigate adversities in the host country.

This study analyzes senior women faculty's discourses about personal and professional experiences they believe contributed to their advancement in academic careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). The purpose of the study is to understand factors that activate women's success in STEM disciplines where women's representation has not yet attained critical mass. A poststructuralist emphasis on complexity and changing nature of power relations offers a framework that illuminates the ways in which elite women navigate social inequalities, hierarchies of power, and non-democratic practices. Feminist poststructural discourse analysis (FPDA) methods allow analysis of women's talk about their experiences in order to understand the women's complex, shifting positions. Eight female tenured full professors of STEM at research-focused universities in the United States participated in the study. Data sources were in-depth semi-structured interviews, a demographic survey, and curricula vitae. Findings will help shape programs and policies aimed at increasing female representation and promoting achievement at senior levels in academic STEM fields.

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The main aim of this work is to analyze suicide notes and letters based on concepts from French Discourse Analysis. Taking into account the interdisciplinarity of the subject, this study is based not only on Michel Pêcheux, but also on the psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan and Jacqueline Authier-Revuz, from the field of enunciation. We attempt to understand in which ways suicide is constructed in these messages and which elements from the interdiscourse determine the saying of the subjects. Two large discursive movements were observed: the discourse of failure and the discourse of success. Within each of them, the Christian or traditional discursive formation was almost always present as a main influence. Such discursive movements appeared, at times, within the same sequence, putting into evidence the ambivalence of the subject. However, even in the messages that revealed only one of these tendencies, it was possible to identify the heterogeneity that constitutes saying. These noncoincidences are manifested mainly through negation, concession operators, quotation marks, allusion, irony, modalization, among others, indicating the crossing of other discourses in the sayings. In the space of contradiction and the equivocal, the subjects proved to be determined by ideology and unconsciousness, but not entirely submissive, as they are capable of breaking with the same (that is, with repetition) through polysemy. Finally, they proved to be structurally divided and far from being the intentional source of a homogenous word, consciously used as an instrument of communication. They are actually beings-in-fault, always desiring and incapable of controlling their saying, as they themselves are nothing but an effect of language
Este trabalho tem como principal objetivo a análise de cartas e bilhetes de suicídio a partir de pressupostos da análise de discurso de linha francesa (AD). Reconhecendo o caráter interdisciplinar da AD, baseamo-nos em conceitos de Michel Pêcheux, mas também de Jacques Lacan, da psicanálise, e Jacqueline Authier-Revuz, do campo da enunciação. Procuramos compreender de que maneiras o suicídio é discursivizado nessas mensagens e que elementos da ordem do interdiscurso determinam o dizer dos suicidas. Foram observados dois grandes movimentos discursivos, que denominamos discurso do êxito e discurso do fracasso, no interior dos quais a FD cristã ou tradicional quase sempre se apresentava como principal influência. Esses discursos por vezes figuravam juntos dentro de uma mesma sequência discursiva, demonstrando a ambivalência do sujeito. Contudo, mesmo nas mensagens que revelavam apenas uma dessas tendências, foi possível identificar pistas da heterogeneidade que constitui todo dizer. Essas não-coincidências apresentaram-se principalmente na forma de negações, operadores concessivos, aspas, alusões, ironia, modalizações, indicando o atravessamento de discursos outros no dizer dos suicidas. No espaço da contradição e do equívoco, o sujeito revelou-se determinado pela ideologia e pelo inconsciente, mas não plenamente assujeitado, por ser capaz de romper com o mesmo através da polissemia. Revelou-se, por fim, um sujeito estruturalmente dividido, que está longe de ser fonte intencional de uma palavra homogênea, conscientemente empregada como instrumento de comunicação. Trata-se, antes, de um ser-em-falta, sempre desejante e incapaz de controlar seu dizer, visto que ele próprio não passa de um efeito de linguagem

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Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior
This research intends to examine the discursive construction ways of figures of professional success in news coverage of the Brazilian weekly magazine Veja between 1968 and 2007. Those figures are individuals and companies of solid success highlighted by the announcer because of competence, high position in acting area, steady financial condition and so on. Using discourse analysis, this study aims to analyze how Veja establishes themes and figures of success, outlining, through the magazine speaker perspective, the communication contract established between the magazine and readers. From the narrative point of view, this work investigates which are the subjects and their valuable goods and how specificities are build (how to become a figure of success, how to reach that stage, what it means to be such a figure, etc.), and trace the passionate way of the characters of the narrative, linking such analysis to the figurative and thematic construction, to finally understand the reason for the prominence of the character and the kind of success made visible by the media, from the examination of the simulacra of success actually built by the reports
Esta pesquisa busca examinar os modos de construção discursiva das figuras do sucesso profissional nas reportagens de capa da revista semanal Veja, da Editora Abril, entre 1968 e 2007. São consideradas figuras de sucesso as pessoas físicas e jurídicas destacadas pelo enunciador tendo em vista a competência, alta posição na área de atuação, elevada condição financeira etc. Utilizando o método de discurso, esta pesquisa visa analisar como Veja constrói os temas e as figuras do sucesso, delineando, pela perspectiva do enunciador da revista, os contratos de comunicação estabelecidos com os leitores. Do ponto de vista narrativo, trata-se de investigar quais os sujeitos e seus objetos de valor e como são construídas as modalizações (como se tornar uma figura de sucesso, como fazer para chegar a esse patamar, o que significa ser tal figura etc.), e traçar o percurso passional dos sujeitos da narrativa, ligando tal análise à construção figurativa e temática, para entender finalmente a razão do destaque da personagem e o tipo de sucesso tornado visível pela mídia, a partir do exame dos simulacros de sucesso efetivamente construídos pelas reportagens

This thesis explores the discourses of success within the Anglophone transatlantic television industry through the semi-structured interviews of sixteen industry practitioners. The TV industry has long been studied in media studies, its working conditions discussed in production studies, its texts scrutinised in TV studies; but what drives the TV industry? What is ‘success’ to television industry practitioners? How do they apprehend it and discuss it? Looking at this key element through those at the heart of it is this research’s purpose, and a necessary step for cultural, production and television studies to better comprehend the industry and what drives it and its members. After discussing the methods selected for this research and bringing forth a new, sevenfold taskbased industry categorisation, my research will tackle its subject of enquiry through three main topics: •the perception of decision-makers by industry practitioners •the industrial executive discourses of success among the different industry constituents (networks/cable/premium/public channels/studios); •the personal definitions of success of all practitioners (and their link to industrial/professional success). This research will engage with many academic fields: from discourse analysis and industrial sociology to organisational research and management psychology, through production studies, cultural studies and film/television/media studies, giving it a clearly multidisciplinary scope. With this thesis, I also wish to further help bridge the gap between academic and industrial expertise. By doing so, and making sense of industrial and personal ideas of success, my research aims at developing a new framework for it, thereby proposing to academics a first approach to the notion of success in this industry.

The media is a social factor influencing suicide clusters. As a result, the AFSP and the CDC established guidelines for journalists in order to prevent suicide contagion and imitation. Compliance has been inconsistent. However, researchers have failed to explore the qualitative nature of how media reports are framed. Furthermore, research has not examined how online news reports may include features unique to the digital environment. One must also consider how other social factors affect the development of suicide clusters. Family, affluence, peers, and education may influence suicide clustering, especially amongst teens and young adults. Psychological factors, like imitation and contagion, should also be considered. This research examined online media reports and appended comments pertaining to three point suicide clusters involving teens and young adults (Cornell University 2009-2010 and Palo Alto, CA 2009-2010/2014-2015). Eighty-two online news articles and 2,500 comments were analyzed. The researcher conducted discourse analysis and a comparative case study using domains and themes derived from the data. Articles were checked for compliance to the preventative guidelines, and the qualitative nature of violations was explored. Descriptive statistics and timing of publication were used to describe the relationship between media framing and the development of suicide clusters. Comments were examined for both reflexive and oppositional responses to media frames. Data was also open coded for the consideration of other domains and themes. Findings suggested that while the media often failed to adhere to prevention guidelines, the online news reports do not seem to be a large factor in the growth of the point clusters under investigation. Instead, findings suggested that these online reports offer protective features including hyperlinks to prevention resources and scientific facts, as well as public comment spaces for coping and the creation of a collective will. Findings also suggested that other social factors including the affluent family, peer groups, and education might be equally influential. These factors alter levels of social integration and normative regulation, sometimes in an interactional manner. The researcher argued that social factors might lead community members to experience egoistic, fatalistic, and/or anomic suicidal tendencies. Furthermore, both imitation and contagion may be at play.

Les Gesta Apollonii sont une réélaboration en 792 hexamètres léonins des huit premiers chapitres de l’Historia Apollonii regis Tyri, et ils ont été publiés par E. Dümmler pour les Monumenta Germaniae Historica, dans le deuxième volume de la section Poetae latini aevi Carolini en 1884. Comme l’œuvre dépend de son hypotexte, le premier chapitre de la thèse est dédié à l’Historia Apollonii regis Tyri, aux problèmes que ce roman soulève et aux réponses possibles que la critique leur a apportées. Une analyse du cadre historico-culturel dans lequel les Gesta Apollonii ont été composés et l’histoire du monastère où le manuscrit a été retrouvé ont été abordées dans le deuxième chapitre ; en outre, une partie importante de ce chapitre est consacrée à l’étude des gloses marginales et interlinéaires dont le texte est parsemé. Une partie de ces gloses a été trouvée dans un codex de De Consolatione Philosophiae de Boèce, rédigé vers l’an 1000 par l’abbé Froumund de Tegernsee, qui provient de la Fürstliche Öttingen-Wallersteinische Bibliothek, en Bavière et qui se trouve, aujourd’hui, à Cracovie, dans la Biblioteka Jagiellońska. Dans le troisième chapitre, plus spécifiquement, le texte des Gesta Apollonii est mis en parallèle avec le roman sur lequel il se fonde et avec les nombreuses références au monde classique grec et latin qu’il présente. Un sous-chapitre est de plus dédié à l’historicité possible des personnages mentionnés dans l’histoire.Après l’analyse du texte d’un point de vue thématique, le quatrième chapitre est dédié à l’examen des caractéristiques codicologiques et paléographiques du manuscrit et à la présentation de la langue, du style et de la métrique de l’œuvre. Le cinquième et dernier chapitre propose la traduction française de l’œuvre
Gesta Apolloni is a re-elaborated version of 792 leonine hexameters of the first 8 chapters of Historia Apollonii regis Tyri, and it was published in 1884 by E. Dümmler in Monumenta Germaniae Historica, in the second volume of the section Poetae latini aevi Carolini. Due to its dependence from its hypotext, the first chapter of the thesis is about Historia Apollonii regis Tyri, the issues that the novel raises, and the possible answers that the critics gave to them. A general analysis of the cultural and historical background where Gesta Apollonii was written and also the story of the monastery where it was found, have been discussed in the second chapter; moreover, an important part of this chapter is dedicated to the study of the marginal and interlinear glosses of which the text is full. Part of these glosses was found in a codex of Boece’s De Consolatione Philophiae, written circa 1000 by abbot Froumund De Tegernsee; originally the codex was in the Fürstliche Öttingen-Wallersteinische Bibliothek in Bavaria, today it can be found in the Biblioteka Jagiellońska, in Cracow.In the third chapter more specifically, Gesta Apollonii text is compared to the novel -which it is based on- and to the several quotes from the Latin and Greek classical world. A paragraph is also dedicated to the possible historical accuracy of the characters mentioned in the story. After the thematic analysis of the text, the fourth chapter concerns the examination of the codicological and paleographic features of the manuscript and the presentation of the language, the style, and the metre of the work. In the fifth and last chapter, there is a French translation of Gesta Apollonii

abstract: ABSTRACT The teaching of formulaic sequences (FSs) to improve speech fluency is a time honored tradition in the field of English as a Second Language (ESL). However, recent research seems to indicate that certain discourse markers, specifically transition and personal stance markers, are more useful than other FSs. This study is an attempt to partially replicate (on a very small scale) one of these studies to see if the findings are similar when the standardized test materials are from the Test Of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) rather than the International English Language Testing System (IELTS). The hope is that teacher researchers could have access to readily available, standardized assessment materials with which to create their own research studies consisting of a standardized pretest and posttest. Four students of various levels in an Intensive English Program (IEP) were given a practice listening and speaking exam utilizing TOEFL preparation materials found online. The results were analyzed to see if there was a noticeable correlation between the use of the specified discourse markers on the speech portion of the test and the performance of the students on the listening portion of the test. The findings show some discrepancy between the two studies' results. It appears possible to have a high perceived fluency rate and still have a lower overall speaking fluency when taking into account listening comprehension and various other measures.
Dissertation/Thesis
M.A. English 2014

Social reproduction is well established in educational literature. Diminished outcomes for students marked by class and race persist despite analysis and educational policy. Teachers articulate discourse to explain student success and failure and satisfy personal and professional investments (Miles, 1989; Popkewitz, 1998). Interviews with teachers in urban secondary schools point to the operation of discourse in the reproduction of inequality with profound effects on students on the margin. Meritocratic, individualist discourses privilege white, middle-class students, excluding others. Constructing students as Other and beyond reason (Popkewitz, 1998), teachers articulate discourses of motivation as explanatory of student success and failure and posit a neoliberal normative subjectivity as explanatory of success. Social, historical and economic factors are silenced. The instability and arbitrary closure of discursive articulation offer possibility for a progressive, ethical pedagogy.

This dissertation is the product of both lifework and a 2007-2010 research study. Working, living and parenting in the largest First Nation community in Canada, the Six Nations Grand River Territory, I believe it imperative that any body of work I produce be of direct use to my community as well fill a needed area of research within the field of Ogweho:weh (Original/Indigenous) Education. In order to design a study that would yield results to both these ends, I spent a significant portion of this dissertation explaining Indigenous Theory and Praxis. Subsequent to the expansion of literature on Indigenous theory and Indigenous methodology is the primary document analysis and dialogues which were intended to answer the two research questions of: (1) What changes has the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples (RCAP) made to Ogweho:weh education in Canada; and (2) How does the community understand success at Six Nations? One hundred seventy-three documents (international, national, provincial, and local) and 52 dialogues with community advocates, educators and parents were analyzed using an original policy discourse web entitled Social Particle Webbing. Based on a sociological perspective of particle theory, Social Particle Webbing is a metaphor for identifying areas where marginalized groups can be platformed to enhance their ability to create social change. Social Particle Webbing is comprised of two-tailed threads, similar to a candle burning at both ends. The two competing themes of each thread may run polar or complimentary to each other, but are the embodiment of the written and oral documents which shape the discourse. The Discourse of Ogweho:weh Education was identified to have fourteen companion themes making up the seven threads of: (1)“Real” Self-Determinants; (2 Responsibility; (3)In the Spirit of Equity; (4)Choice in Education; (5)Rationale for Inaction; (6)Societal Opinion of Ogweho:weh; and (7)Success. Although Social Particle Webbing was created to answer the needs of Ogweho:weh education by creating an enculturated metaphorical image of Ogweho:weh Education, it is appropriately applied to all arenas of social change where a people are marginalized and not readily able to make change due to a lack of space, resources, or power.

This dissertation explores the construction and experience of the sports champion's reality. In studying reality and its construction, I became familiar with, the post-modern perspective of reality and with theories such as systems theory, cybernetics, radical constructivism and social constructionism, which fall under the post-modern epistemological umbrella. The dissertation gives an exposition of my journey through this maze of theories, from a position of "knowing" how champions are made towards a more complex position of uncertainty and possibility. This is followed by an account of the qualitative research that I undertook, within a social constructionist framework, in which I used thematic discourse analysis. Finally, I interpret the discourses emerging from the analysis in order to demonstrate their operation or effect in the construction of a champion's reality.
Psychology
M.A. (Clinical Psychology)

This thesis contributes to the ongoing global discourse in ICT4D on ICT and its effect on socio-economic development in both theory and practice. The thesis comprises five studies presented logically from chapters 5 to 9. The thesis employs Mixed Methods research methodology within the Critical Realist epistemological perspective in Information Systems Research. Studies 1-4 employ different quantitative research and analytical methods while study 5 employs a qualitative research and analytical method. Study 1 proposes and operationalizes a predictive analytics framework in Learning Analytics by using a case study of the Computer Science Department of the University of Jos, Nigeria. Multiple Linear Regression was used with the aid of the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) analysis tool. Statistical Hypothesis testing was then used to validate the model with a 5% level of significance. Results show how predictive learning analytics can be successfully operationalized and used for predicting students’ academic performances. In Study 2 the relative efficiency of ICT infrastructure utilization with respect to the educational component of the Human Development Index (HDI) is investigated. A Novel conceptual model is proposed and the Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) methodology is used to measure the relative efficiency of the components of ICT infrastructure (Inputs) and the components of education (Outputs). Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) Regression Analysis is used to determine the effect of ICT infrastructure on Educational Attainment/Adult Literacy Rates. Results show a strong positive effect of ICT infrastructure on educational attainment and adult literacy rates, a strong correlation between this infrastructure and literacy rates as well as provide a theoretical support for the argument of increasing ICT infrastructure to provide an increase in human development especially within the educational context. In Study 3 the relative efficiency and productivity of ICT Infrastructure Utilization in Education are examined. The research employs the Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) and Malmquist Index (MI), well established non-parametric data analysis methodologies, applied to archival data on International countries divided into Arab States, Europe, Sub-Saharan Africa and World regions. Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) Regression analysis is applied to determine the effect of ICT infrastructure on Adult Literacy Rates. Findings show a relatively efficient utilization and steady increase in productivity for the regions but with only Europe and the Arab States currently operating in a state of positive growth in productivity. A strong positive effect of ICT infrastructure on Adult Literacy Rates is also observed. Study 4 investigates the efficiency and productivity of ICT utilization in public value creation with respect to Adult Literacy Rates. The research employs Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) and Malmquist Index (MI), well established non-parametric data analysis methodologies, applied to archival data on International countries divided into Arab States, Europe, Sub-Saharan Africa and World regions. Findings show a relatively efficient utilization of ICT in public value creation but an average decline in productivity levels. Finally, in Study 5 a Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) on the UNDP Human Development Research Reports from 2010-2016 is carried out to determine whether or not any public value is created or derived from the policy directions being put forward and their subsequent implementations. The CDA is operationalized by Habermas’ Theory of Communicative Action (TCA). Findings show that Public Value is indeed being created and at the core of the policy directions being called for in these reports.
School of Computing
Ph.D. (Information Systems)

Ce mémoire se concentre sur la pratique vestimentaire en milieu de travail. Plus précisément, il poursuit une analyse de contenu des discours qui ont comme objectif de prescrire une tenue vestimentaire acceptable pour ce que l'on appelle communément le milieu de bureau. Les discours qui servent à l'analyse dans ce mémoire sont des politiques vestimentaires écrites d'entreprise et des articles de presse écrits sur le sujet. Ils sont de langue française, de provenance québécoise ou canadienne et datent des années 1990-2000. La recherche est motivée par le questionnement général suivant: «Comment s'articule le discours de l'entreprise et des médias sur la tenue vestimentaire acceptable en milieu de bureau?». Nous avons choisi d'observer cette question dans la perspective d'une double problématique, soit la pratique vestimentaire comme une activité culturelle porteuse de sens, d'une part, et la pratique vestimentaire au bureau dans un contexte de transformation des entreprises, d'autre part. Le premier volet de notre problématique explore toute la dimension de signification du vêtement et de la pratique vestimentaire dans la mesure où l'objet (le vêtement) et l'activité (s'habiller) ne sont jamais neutres. Avec le second volet, nous considérons les changements qu'a connus la littérature managériale depuis le début des années 1990 avec l'immense promotion des concepts de liberté, d'autonomie, de créativité et de souplesse dans les entreprises, de même que le concept de culture d'entreprise utilisé pour comprendre, expliquer et orienter les entreprises. La recherche fut orientée par une première hypothèse voulant que les discours étudiés soient influencés par ce nouveau contexte managérial, et feraient par conséquent la démonstration de différentes mesures d'assouplissement au niveau de la tenue de travail acceptable pour le milieu de bureau. À cela, nous avons ajouté l'hypothèse que ces mesures d'assouplissement devaient néanmoins se présenter sous une forme d'encadrement pour souligner ainsi l'impossibilité, dans le milieu de bureau, à faire fi de certains grands enjeux reliés à l'apparence vestimentaire (crédibilité, professionnalisme, etc.), et conséquemment l'impossibilité de croire à une complète latitude dans le comportement vestimentaire. Notre recherche nous aura en effet permis de constater que les discours balancent constamment entre deux démarches contradictoires : encadrer d'une part la pratique vestimentaire du travailleur en milieu de bureau, et le libérer d'autre part des contraintes associées à cette pratique. Et malgré la popularité du concept de culture d'entreprise dans le milieu du management, celui-ci n'est pas apparu dans notre analyse comme explicatif des discours que nous avons étudiés. ______________________________________________________________________________ MOTS-CLÉS DE L’AUTEUR : Pratique vestimentaire, Vêtement, Entreprise, Travail, Bureau, Management, Néomanagement, Culture d'entreprise.