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Of Language And Thought: American Political Discourse, Normative Reason, And Essentially Contested Concepts, Riley Clare Valentine
Of Language And Thought: American Political Discourse, Normative Reason, And Essentially Contested Concepts, Riley Clare Valentine
LSU Doctoral Dissertations
This dissertation analyzes progressive liberalism and neoliberalism as forms of normative reason that redefine specific political concepts, which are central to American liberalism – equality, liberty, the role of the State, and the pursuit of happiness. I contend that language is an important expression of normative reason. Language is how political reason and the norms accompanying it are expressed. I move through Presidents Franklin Delano Roosevelt to Barack Obama, exploring shifts in language and interpretations of political concepts through progressive liberal and neoliberal forms of normative reason. I argue that a tension emerges between progressive liberalism and neoliberalism, and a …
A Comparison Of Pass Rates Across Three Language Screeners For Spanish-English Bilingual Children, Mariajose Bosanko
A Comparison Of Pass Rates Across Three Language Screeners For Spanish-English Bilingual Children, Mariajose Bosanko
LSU Master's Theses
There is limited research regarding the efficacy of the language screening process, especially for bilingual populations. The purpose of this study was to examine the pass rates of three language screeners when administered to Spanish-English bilingual and ELL children. A total of ten Spanish-English bilingual children enrolled in either Pre-K, kindergarten, or first grade completed each screener. The screeners were: the Preschool Language Scales Spanish Screening Test-Fifth Edition (PLSSST-5; Zimmerman et al., 2012a), the Bilingual English Spanish Oral Screener (BESOS; currently in development; Lugo-Neris et al., n.d.), and the Diagnostic Evaluation of Language Variation-Screening Test (DELV-S; Seymour et al., 2003). …
The Repertoire Of Understanding: The Linguistic Patterning Of Repetition And Alignment Within Supportive Conversations, Kaitlin Emily Cannava
The Repertoire Of Understanding: The Linguistic Patterning Of Repetition And Alignment Within Supportive Conversations, Kaitlin Emily Cannava
LSU Doctoral Dissertations
This dissertation explores a fundamental feature of all human interaction, behavioral coordination. Since early work on motor mimicry, scholars of human communication have invested tremendous energy to discover patterns of behavioral adaptation and the impact these patterns have on individual and relational outcomes. Outcomes such as individual health and well-being, as well as relationship satisfaction and divorce are all contingent on the ability to adapt and coordinate actions (Niederhoffer & Pennebaker, 2002; Stehl et al., 2008; Kulesza et al., 2013; Ireland et al., 2011). Several decades of research have advanced our understanding of specific characteristics of supportive messages and their …
Heidegger, Metaphor, And The Essence Of Language, Joel Meservy
Heidegger, Metaphor, And The Essence Of Language, Joel Meservy
LSU Master's Theses
In this thesis, I address the question of Heidegger’s rejection of metaphor, alleging most of the commentary on this rejection has failed to confront its substance. In particular, I focus on two different interpretations, one given by Paul Ricoeur and the other by Jacques Derrida. Both of these accounts place Heidegger’s rejection in a model of language structured by the sign relation; however, I contend Heidegger rejects metaphor precisely in order to overcome this model of language. Heidegger's few references to metaphor occur within attempts to rethink the very nature of our being-in-the-world and our relationship to language; that is, …
Pragmatics, Prosody, And Social Skills Of School-Age Children With Language-Learning Differences, Janet Lynn Bradshaw
Pragmatics, Prosody, And Social Skills Of School-Age Children With Language-Learning Differences, Janet Lynn Bradshaw
LSU Doctoral Dissertations
Social skills are an important aspect of child development that continues to have influences in adolescence and adulthood (Hart, Olsen, Robinson, & Mandleco, 1997). Interacting in a social world requires an integration of many abilities that include social skills and emotional understanding of oneself and other persons. Children who have difficulties with interpreting social cues (e.g., identifying basic emotions and responding to cues in speech) have immediate and progressive consequences in both academics and social living. Children with typical language skills are successfully interacting with peers and acknowledging social rules for different environments (e.g., playing at school vs. playing at …
La Actitud Hacia El Castellano En San Antonio, Texas (The Attitude Towards Spanish In San Antonio, Texas), Simone Renee Roberts
La Actitud Hacia El Castellano En San Antonio, Texas (The Attitude Towards Spanish In San Antonio, Texas), Simone Renee Roberts
LSU Master's Theses
The dominant language in the United States is English but there are different minority languages spoken such as Spanish. Today, Spanish can be found in every state and territory of the United States. In Texas, the city of San Antonio is in intense contact with Spanish, partly because of the long history between Texas and Mexico and the constant influx of Hispanic immigrants. This thesis studies the attitude toward Spanish in San Antonio, investigating the uses of Spanish and English and the social factors (age, generation, education, gender, etc.) that affect the use of Spanish. Through a questionnaire designed to …
Addressing The Higher Level Language Skills For The Common Core State Standards In Kindergarten, Ashley Bourque Meaux
Addressing The Higher Level Language Skills For The Common Core State Standards In Kindergarten, Ashley Bourque Meaux
LSU Doctoral Dissertations
Kindergarten is a critical year, providing a foundation for children’s success in school. With a common set of standards, the Common Core State Standards (CCSS), finalized and made available to states for adoption critical skills in numeracy and literacy will be uniformed from kindergarten through high school. Some children enter school with a sufficient foundation to support success in kindergarten and subsequent years. However, some children either because of lack of exposure during preschool years (e.g., Aikens & Barbarin, 2008; Hart & Risley, 1995; Schacter, 1979; Snow, Burns & Griffin, 1998) or because of language delays associated with developmental disabilities …
The Effects Of Morphophonic Faces As A Method For Teaching Sight Words, Ashley Jean Williams
The Effects Of Morphophonic Faces As A Method For Teaching Sight Words, Ashley Jean Williams
LSU Master's Theses
Previous studies exploring the use of superimposed pictures for sight word learning provide mixed results, with inconclusive benefits. One criticism is that even when sight word learning is enhanced, it does not improve the learner’s use of the alphabetic principle. A second criticism is that it is only feasible for easily depicted words. This study addressed these criticisms by using pictured sight words representing a hybrid between alphabet and sight word learning, MorphoPhonic Faces (MPF). MPF have the first letter drawn in the mouth of a face suggesting speech production cues. Thus, participants were provided alphabet cues first and then …
Color Journal, Meichi Lee
Color Journal, Meichi Lee
LSU Master's Theses
Color Journal consists of a collection of works, which depict landscapes and cityscapes with an underlining consciousness of the interrelationship between humans and their environment. Over the ages, the relationship changes through the history of human civilization. In the current age, nature seems to suffer a losing battle. Therefore, there is a personal nostalgic sentiment to emphasize the beauty of our natural environment and the importance of the balance of the relationship. The image of houses is chosen to represent human activities because of the inherent symbols embedded in houses. All the paintings in the collection rely heavily on memory …
The Common Struggle: Locating The International Connections Of National Spaces Of Conflict In The Francophone World, Mark Huntsman
The Common Struggle: Locating The International Connections Of National Spaces Of Conflict In The Francophone World, Mark Huntsman
LSU Doctoral Dissertations
In their 2007 manifesto, Quand les murs tombent: l’identit&236; nationale hors-la-loi, &200;douard Glissant and Patrick Chamoiseau propose that the nation-state is a stumbling block to global solidarity as it emphasizes cultural division. In order to achieve international community across borders, people must find common bonds that link them across traditional lines of conflict. My thesis applies this notion within the context of la Francophonie, an organization that has struggled with its goal of cultural rapprochement as its member nations continue to perceive each other as foreign entities rather than as like components of a larger community. I assert that la …
The Role Of Atypical Semantic Activation In Schizotypy: Implications For Odd Speech And Creativity, Kyle S. Minor
The Role Of Atypical Semantic Activation In Schizotypy: Implications For Odd Speech And Creativity, Kyle S. Minor
LSU Doctoral Dissertations
Individuals with schizophrenia tend to demonstrate patterns of atypical semantic activation, which are characterized by increased activation of weakly associated words within the semantic network. Although atypical semantic activation is associated with formal thought disorder, tangential speech, and poor long-term functioning in schizophrenia, very little is known about this variable in individuals with schizotypy, or the 10% of the population who demonstrate personality traits presumed to reflect genetic liability to schizophrenia. In this project, we employed highly sensitive laboratory procedures to test whether individuals with schizotypy (n = 45) display increased atypical semantic activation compared to a non-schizotypy group (n …
Literary Expressions Of Creole Identity In Alfred Mercier's L'Habitation Saint-Ybars And Johnelle, Mary Florence Cashell
Literary Expressions Of Creole Identity In Alfred Mercier's L'Habitation Saint-Ybars And Johnelle, Mary Florence Cashell
LSU Doctoral Dissertations
This dissertation examines nineteenth-century Louisianan author Alfred Mercier’s novels and their roles as emblems of Francophone Creole cultural identity. During the nineteenth century following the Louisiana Purchase and subsequent anglophone influx, the French-speaking Creole population faced a cultural upheaval. Unable to completely identify as either French or American, Creoles occupied an uncertain space. This study demonstrates that Alfred Mercier’s works articulate a hybrid identity that is neither French nor American but rather a multicultural construct. The first chapter examines the nineteenth-century Creole community’s problematic positioning between French and American cultures. Chapters two, three, and four center on two of Mercier’s …
The Problem And Possibility Of Animal Minds In Brandom's Work: Revisiting Heidegger, Rationality And Normativity, Joel David Musser
The Problem And Possibility Of Animal Minds In Brandom's Work: Revisiting Heidegger, Rationality And Normativity, Joel David Musser
LSU Master's Theses
Robert Brandom denies animals implicit reasoning by emphasizing their inability to make inferences explicit, and in so doing, denigrates animals by likening their behavior to that of machines and artifacts. I contest, however, that animals are paradigmatically more than any similarity or analogy to mechanical processing, just as humans are paradigmatically more than any reductive analogy to animals. The human/animal distinction need not come at the cost of ignoring the difference between animals and artifacts, and I believe we can largely subscribe to Brandom’s differentiation of the human in terms of expressionism if we allow that animals can make implicit …
The Hegemony Of Language - Literary Writing And The Quest For Subjectivity In The Works Of Michel De Montaigne And Charles Ferdinand Ramuz, Carla Bota Vance
The Hegemony Of Language - Literary Writing And The Quest For Subjectivity In The Works Of Michel De Montaigne And Charles Ferdinand Ramuz, Carla Bota Vance
LSU Doctoral Dissertations
Starting from the premise that one’s identity is first and foremost construed in language, this dissertation argues that language is the fundamental site of resistance for writers who define themselves through linguistic difference. Recognizing also that language and literary production frequently fall under the control of complex authorities, this thesis examines literature as a site where confrontation is played out aesthetically. Literary writing, in other words, is exposed as a point of intersection between writers whose language draws its sources from a peripheral location and the centers of authority that regulate and dictate what is accepted as artistically and culturally …
Time Of Day Effects On Language Discourse In Healthy Aging And Dementia, Amanda L. Stead
Time Of Day Effects On Language Discourse In Healthy Aging And Dementia, Amanda L. Stead
LSU Doctoral Dissertations
This study’s purpose was to investigate whether language discourse follows a diurnal pattern across one 10-hour day in normal healthy aging individuals (NHA) and individuals with mild to moderate Alzheimer’s disease. Ten healthy older adults; and ten older adults clinically labeled with probable Alzheimer’s disease were recruited for this study. Measurements of procedural language, narrative language, and cognition, the Benton Judgment of Line Orientation (BJLO), were collected across one day at 9:00am, 12:00pm, 3:00 pm, and 6:00pm. Language samples were evaluated for linguistic variables to evaluate the quantity and quality of the discourse samples. Results indicated that the two groups …
An Examination Of The Relationship Between Communication And Socialization Deficits In Infants And Toddlers With Autism And Pervasive Developmental Disorder-Not Otherwise Specified (Pdd_Nos), Megan Alice Hattier
LSU Master's Theses
Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs) are characterized by pervasive impairments in repetitive behaviors or interests, communication, and socialization. As the onset of these features occurs at a very young age, early detection is of the utmost importance. In an attempt to better clarify the behavioral presentation of communication and socialization deficits to aid in early assessment and intervention, impairments in these areas were examined among infants and toddlers (17-37 months) with Autistic Disorder (AD), Pervasive Developmental Disorder – Not Otherwise Specified (PDD-NOS), and non-ASD related developmental delay. The Baby and Infant Screen for Children with aUtIsm Traits-Part1 (BISCUIT-Part1) and the Battelle …
Descriptive Study Of Korean E-Mail Discourse, Jaegu Kim
Descriptive Study Of Korean E-Mail Discourse, Jaegu Kim
LSU Doctoral Dissertations
This study is an examination of a corpus of computer mediated Korean discourse (i.e., e-mail), based on a folk-cultural category, nunch’i. Nunch’i is actively involved in linguistic feature use in terms of [+age] and [+distance] of human relationships. Many Koreans think that the world has an inherent hierarchy according to age. This idea has been reflected through nunch’i, a culture-specific system for maintaining harmonious social relationships especially between [+age] and [–age] people. Nunch’i has a function of foresight, in that it is part of the way that people read the situations and the faces of addressers and addressees. Like oral …
Expectation In Visual Symbolic Processing Of Environmental Symbols In People With Fluent Aphasia, Amanda Stead
Expectation In Visual Symbolic Processing Of Environmental Symbols In People With Fluent Aphasia, Amanda Stead
LSU Master's Theses
The purpose of this study was to examine aspects of visual symbolic processing in those individuals with fluent aphasia, and how it compares to that of their lexical ability. Two groups of participants were examined: a group with fluent aphasia, and a group of non-neurologically damaged controls. Participants were administered four computer based expectation tasks, two of which were symbolic, and two which were lexical. Each task contained a simple and a complex level. Participants were required to determine if the final stimulus, within a set of four, was congruent or incongruent. The measures taken included both reaction time and …
Expectation In Auditory Processing Of Environmental Sounds In People With Fluent Aphasia, Meghan Evelyn Collins
Expectation In Auditory Processing Of Environmental Sounds In People With Fluent Aphasia, Meghan Evelyn Collins
LSU Master's Theses
The purpose of this study was to examine the integrity of the nonverbal auditory system in subjects with fluent aphasia, and determine the relative preservation of the nonverbal auditory system in comparison to the lexical system. This was attempted through the task of expectation, a high level processing skill. Two groups of participants were examined: a group with fluent aphasia, and a group of non-neurologically damaged individuals. Participants were administered two nonverbal auditory conditions devoid of lexical information, a simple condition and a complex condition in which they were required to determine if the last sound heard in a sequence …
Reticent Romans: Silence And Writing In La Vie De Saint Alexis, Le Conte Du Graal, And Le Roman De Silence, Evan J. Bibbee
Reticent Romans: Silence And Writing In La Vie De Saint Alexis, Le Conte Du Graal, And Le Roman De Silence, Evan J. Bibbee
LSU Doctoral Dissertations
Apart from discourse and yet somehow part of it, silence is a powerfully ambiguous linguistic phenomenon that blurs the lines between presence and absence. Eluding the material aspects of oral and written language, it is only perceptible as the gaps or spaces between words. Nonetheless, it plays a role in all linguistic productions: although silence itself cannot be directly communicated, it can influence communication. In a literary text, silence may takes on many different guises, including rhythmic hesitations, rhetorical omissions, and poetic oppositions that mimic the audible gaps of spoken language. The visual, aural, and fictional interaction of all these …
Reconceiving Curriculum: An Historical Approach, Stephen Shepard Triche
Reconceiving Curriculum: An Historical Approach, Stephen Shepard Triche
LSU Doctoral Dissertations
This dissertation reconceives curriculum through an historical approach that employs Ludwig Wittgenstein’s later philosophy. Curriculum is more than the knowledge taught in school. Curriculum, as I a theorist conceives it, is concerned with the broader intellectual and ideological ways a society thinks about education. Hence, the current school curriculum’s focus on specific learning outcomes offers a limited view of the knowledge fashioned by a society, thereby offering an intellectual and social history that is highly selective. Wittgenstein’s concept of “language-games” offers curricularists a way to re-include some of these stories. The concept of curriculum emerges at the end of the …
Framing And Counterframing Of The Middle East Peace Process In The Arab -Israeli Press: A Comparative Analysis Of "Assafir" And "The Jerusalem Post"., Houda Hanna El-Koussa
Framing And Counterframing Of The Middle East Peace Process In The Arab -Israeli Press: A Comparative Analysis Of "Assafir" And "The Jerusalem Post"., Houda Hanna El-Koussa
LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses
The Arabs and Israelis have been negotiating peace for the past ten years; however, the conflict still ignites with no apparent hope for any near resolution. Understanding the rhetorical construction of the peace reality may help in managing this conflict. This study examines the symbolic construction of the peace process in the Arab and Israeli press. It comparatively studies how the Arab and Israeli press, through language choice, define peace, elucidate its implications, and judge actors and actions involved in the peace process. This study identifies the metaphors used and the dominant rival frames constructed in two conflicting newspapers, Assafir …
English Immersion Program In Korea: Student Progress After Four Months Of Implementation., Jaiwon Jung
English Immersion Program In Korea: Student Progress After Four Months Of Implementation., Jaiwon Jung
LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses
In Korea, efforts to teach a non-native language, such as English, to Korean students usually result in native speakers acquiring limited language abilities. As a result, the teaching of English has little effect upon making native speakers fluent in a non-native language. Many foreign language instructors in Korea attempt to find new teaching methods to improve the performance of students in foreign language proficiency. Among the various innovative approaches of the 20th century, research has shown that the immersion approach may be one of the most effective means. Thus this dissertation introduces the innovative immersion teaching methods for Korean school …
Caught In The Middle: The Construction, Expression, And Transformation Of Identity Among Haitian Youth In Montreal., Earl Floyd Scooter Pegram
Caught In The Middle: The Construction, Expression, And Transformation Of Identity Among Haitian Youth In Montreal., Earl Floyd Scooter Pegram
LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses
This dissertation examines identity issues among Haitian youth in Montreal, Quebec (Canada). Because Haitians are the largest group of "visible minorities" in the province and are an integral part of the Quebec mosaic, the distinctive "sense of belonging" felt by youth in the Haitian community necessitates further inquiry into what connections they (Haitian youth) have with both the majority Quebecois culture and the minority Haitian immigrant culture of Montreal. Since Quebec is a Francophone society in a North America that is majority Anglophone, this linguistic and cultural confusion sometimes results in immigrant youth assuming multiple identities in order to "fit …
Language And Power In A Louisiana Murder Trial: Discourse Features In Witness Testimony., Kara Lynn Gibson
Language And Power In A Louisiana Murder Trial: Discourse Features In Witness Testimony., Kara Lynn Gibson
LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses
The literature concerning language, law, and power has traditionally focused on the linguistic strategies legal professionals employ for the purpose of controlling the speech of their clients and/or witnesses. However, newer research, stemming from gender-based theories of how power and/or powerlessness is manifest in language, promotes linguistic analyses from the perspective of the disempowered as opposed to the empowered, Such studies claim that speakers' election or avoidance of certain discourse features (e.g., hedges, hypercorrect forms, polite address forms, overlap, quotatives and gestures, etc.) and responses-types (e.g., declarative-context questions, copy responses, fragmented versus narrative responses, etc.) reflects their perceived power as …
Some Technical Vocabulary Of Rhetorical Invention In The Treatise Of Anonymous Seguerianus, Hermogenes' "On Statis", And Book Three Of The [Pseudo-]Hermogenic Work "On Invention", Mark Allen Williams
Some Technical Vocabulary Of Rhetorical Invention In The Treatise Of Anonymous Seguerianus, Hermogenes' "On Statis", And Book Three Of The [Pseudo-]Hermogenic Work "On Invention", Mark Allen Williams
LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses
From the debates of the Christian councils to the homilies of the local priests, from the opaque scripting of the Byzantine epistle to the clarities of stasis theory, from the entertaining fictions of declamation to the promulgation of Byzantine cannon law, the citizens of Byzantium were never far from the rhetorical, and they themselves knew it. But the development of rhetorical theory in the Greek West has gained little attention, and what has been given to it has generally concentrated on questions of style. This dissertation examines some of the most basic qualities of that theory of rhetorical invention which …
Sabine River Spanish: Survival Of A Threatened Dialect., Comfort Pratt-Panford
Sabine River Spanish: Survival Of A Threatened Dialect., Comfort Pratt-Panford
LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses
Spanish-speaking settlements were established along the Sabine River in 1717. The descendants of these Spanish settlers, often referred to as "Adaesenos", live in present-day Texas and Louisiana. Over the years, their language has been subjected to adverse conditions which have affected its use and features. This study focuses on the characteristics of this Hispanic dialect, with the aim of documenting what is left of it. The corpus consisted of seventeen informants ranging in age from 55 to 91 and representing three different generations. They were selected from the four remaining localities in northwestern Louisiana where the Adaesenos can be found …
A Case Study Of The Developing Literacy Of African -American Learners Attending A Tutoring Program At An Urban African -American Church., Gayle Williams Duskin
A Case Study Of The Developing Literacy Of African -American Learners Attending A Tutoring Program At An Urban African -American Church., Gayle Williams Duskin
LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses
This study describes the literate abilities of a group of upper level elementary African-American school children who participated in an urban, African-American, church-sponsored, after-school tutorial program. Using an ethnographic research method, I relied on field notes, audio-taped interviews, and writing samples to collect and analyze the data. The participants in the study were six subjects (five females and one male, ages 10 to 12) who were enrolled in the tutorial program. Over the course of seven months (October, 1997 to May, 1998), I observed all activities in which writing literacy took place at the tutorial program. From this observation three …
Narrative Structure And Characters In The Nanzi Stories Of Curacao: A Discourse Analysis., Joke Maaten Mondada
Narrative Structure And Characters In The Nanzi Stories Of Curacao: A Discourse Analysis., Joke Maaten Mondada
LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses
This dissertation develops a new approach to the analysis of narratives by combining the analysis of narrative structure and character analysis. Through the in-depth analysis of two stories of a collection of 32 Nanzi stories (from Curacao), which are spider/trickster stories in Papiamentu, I develop a method to analyze the structure of the Nanzi stories. My method is based on the determination of narrative division into (1) episodes, organized as macro-propositions under a macro-structure (Van Dijk 1982; 1992); (2) different sections (six), based on narrative and free clauses (Labov 1972); and, (3) major events (Barthes 1975; Chatman 1978). By applying …
The Sociolinguistic Situation Of Creoles In South Louisiana: Identity, Characteristics, Attitudes., Megan Elizabeth Melancon
The Sociolinguistic Situation Of Creoles In South Louisiana: Identity, Characteristics, Attitudes., Megan Elizabeth Melancon
LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses
Most of the research done on the Louisiana Creole community has concentrated on the vocabulary and folklore of Creole French. To date, there has been no methodological examination of other parameters enveloping the community. In this dissertation, the previous findings will be extended by analyzing the results of a survey on the linguistic attitudes and cultural, ethnic, and racial identity of the African-Americans in South Louisiana who identify as Creole. Due to the presence of several varieties of French in the state, the ethnic and racial admixture among the people who speak these dialects, and the overwhelming presence of English …