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Linguistics

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Appropriating The Discourse Of Language In Mathematics Education, Donna Kotsopoulos Jan 2004

Appropriating The Discourse Of Language In Mathematics Education, Donna Kotsopoulos

Digitized Theses

This study explores language development in a grade 9 mathematics classroom to investigate: (a) whether mathematics has a distinct language register which is suitable for an applied linguistics interpretation, (b) how students’ appropriation of language impacts on their learning, and (c) the pedagogical implications of explicit instruction in a mathematical register. The findings suggest that a distinct Mathematics Language Register (MLR) exists, as do differences between how educators and students appropriate this register. Furthermore, ignoring these differences constrains students’ learning. Mathematics education, taken as a linguistics paradigm, requires a re-conceptualization of educator roles as students require explicit instruction in MLR. …


Modifying Sievers: A Theory Of Word Groups In Old English Meter, James Keddie Jan 1996

Modifying Sievers: A Theory Of Word Groups In Old English Meter, James Keddie

Digitized Theses

The classic explanation of Old English meter, Eduard Sievers' Theory of Five Types, has a number of faults. Because it offers a pragmatic description of verse-patterns rather than a justification for them, it is less a theory than a taxonomy. There is inconsistency as to where metrical stress occurs, and the role of resolution. The updated version by A. J. Bliss adds to these faults a proliferation of categories that detracts from the original simplicity of the Types. Recent proposals to simplify resolution or to rely on alliteration solve some problems, but crate others.;The solution proposed here is to allow …


An Examination Of Whether Irony And Sarcasm Are Different Terms For The Same Psychological Construct, Christopher James Lee Jan 1995

An Examination Of Whether Irony And Sarcasm Are Different Terms For The Same Psychological Construct, Christopher James Lee

Digitized Theses

Researchers have studied counterfactual statements, such as "There's not a cloud in the sky!" uttered during a violent thunderstorm, both as instances of irony (Jorgensen, Miller & Sperber, 1984; Kreuz & Glucksberg, 1989; Katz & Lee, 1993) and as instances of sarcasm (Gibbs, 1986; Kreuz & Glucksberg, 1989). It is not surprising that some terms are used inconsistently in a young field of investigation such as the psycholinguistics of irony and sarcasm. However. the inconsistent use of the terms irony and sarcasm across different empirical studies is problematic when research participants are asked to judge whether or not counterfactual statements …


The Role Of Literal Meaning In Proverb Comprehension, Nigel E. Turner Jan 1995

The Role Of Literal Meaning In Proverb Comprehension, Nigel E. Turner

Digitized Theses

According to the 'Standard Pragmatic Model of Language', a person initially attempts to understand figurative sentences such as metaphors and proverbs in terms of their literal meaning and only processes the figurative meaning when the literal meaning is found inadequate. Experimental studies have failed to support this model; however, many of these studies confounded literalness with conventionality. Furthermore, the role of literal meaning during figurative language comprehension remains unresolved. The purpose of this thesis is to conduct a more valid test of the Standard Pragmatic Model, and to determine the role of literal meaning during proverb comprehension. In the first …


Cognitive Components Of Naming In Children: Effects Of Referential Uncertainty And Stimulus Realism, Carla J. Johnson Jan 1990

Cognitive Components Of Naming In Children: Effects Of Referential Uncertainty And Stimulus Realism, Carla J. Johnson

Digitized Theses

The purpose of this research was to identify stimulus characteristics that influence the ease of picture naming in children. Naming is a basic aspect of language behavior that includes such components as object identification, selection of an appropriate name, and generation of the naming response. Little is known about factors that influence the proficiency with which these components are executed. This research attempted to isolate the effects on naming efficiency of: (a) the number of available correct names for a picture (referential uncertainty) and (b) the degree to which a picture realistically represents the depicted object (stimulus realism).;Results from three …