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Times Of Crisis: A Comparative Discourse Analysis Of U.S. And Mexican Presidential Rhetoric, Kassandra Gonzalez-Ramos
Times Of Crisis: A Comparative Discourse Analysis Of U.S. And Mexican Presidential Rhetoric, Kassandra Gonzalez-Ramos
LSU Master's Theses
Language is a communicative tool that in the possession of politicians holds the power to be persuasive and aggressive, empowering and uniting, or disruptive and dividing. Previous research has relied on numerous methodological approaches to analyze political discourse from different viewpoints to reveal the manner in which politicians as part of political institutions transform and manipulate language. The current investigation performs a critical discourse analysis (CDA) based on the framework developed by Van Dijk (1993,1997) in order to demonstrate the speech act realization in a total of 14 political speeches delivered by American presidents Biden, Trump, and Obama and Mexican …
Let's (Not) Talk About Sex: An Exploration Of Taboo And Politeness In Modern Peninsular Spanish, Caroline Hachem
Let's (Not) Talk About Sex: An Exploration Of Taboo And Politeness In Modern Peninsular Spanish, Caroline Hachem
LSU Master's Theses
The social sciences have spearheaded much of the discussion about sexuality in academia, and the various subfields have within them their own versions of sex research that investigate the factors that make up our sexuality. The study at hand unites the field of linguistics with a non-English language, Spanish, to further bridge the gap in sex research. Three primary sources are consulted, a novel; CREA, the Corpus de Referencia del Español Actual; and a public sexual education packet to see how the language of sexuality manifests in different types of media. The guiding question for this research is as follows: …
Language Use In Forensic Settings, Emily Faith Wiegers
Language Use In Forensic Settings, Emily Faith Wiegers
LSU Master's Theses
Understanding what constitutes proper communication is an important component of interaction for forensic science professionals. Using concepts from linguistic anthropology, this thesis recognizes patterns of discourse and register among individuals working within a forensic setting. Data collected from a survey distributed to members of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences and from interviews with forensic professionals working in the state of Louisiana were used to analyze individual perceptions of language use in professional settings. Results show that variation among individuals within the forensic disciplines affects speech. Other determinants of proper speech include audience and the space within which the communication …
Language Processing And The Artificial Mind: Teaching Code Literacy In The Humanities, Jerry Scott Weltman
Language Processing And The Artificial Mind: Teaching Code Literacy In The Humanities, Jerry Scott Weltman
LSU Master's Theses
Humanities majors often find themselves in jobs where they either manage programmers or work with them in close collaboration. These interactions often pose difficulties because specialists in literature, history, philosophy, and so on are not usually "code literate." They do not understand what tasks computers are best suited to, or how programmers solve problems. Learning code literacy would be a great benefit to humanities majors, but the traditional computer science curriculum is heavily math oriented, and students outside of science and technology majors are often math averse. Yet they are often interested in language, linguistics, and science fiction. This thesis …
Pretérito Vs. Imperfecto: Variación En La Producción Lingüística De Los Mexicanos En El Sur De Luisiana., Jose Fernando Rojas
Pretérito Vs. Imperfecto: Variación En La Producción Lingüística De Los Mexicanos En El Sur De Luisiana., Jose Fernando Rojas
LSU Master's Theses
ABSTRACT This thesis addresses the linguistic production of Spanish preterit and imperfect in the Mexican community that reside at the south of the state of Louisiana. More precisely in Baton Rouge, Scott and Lafayette. Other literature have worked this topic noticing a variation while the past tense is used, among others are Silva-Corvalán (1994) noticed that the Mexican community in Los Ángeles, California uses the imperfect in preterit context with stative verbs. Montrul (2009), on the other hand, notices similar behavior in heritage speakers and Delgado-Díaz (2013) suggested that same behavior in the use of these forms can be seen …
Structuring Language And Community In An Online Space, Christopher Linder
Structuring Language And Community In An Online Space, Christopher Linder
LSU Master's Theses
Massively multiplayer online games (MMOs) present an interesting area for linguistic and social research, being a setting for of computer-mediated communication (CMC) that is task-oriented in nature and often requires high level of cooperation between players. This study investigates how Spanish-speaking players of the MMO Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn use the linguistic phenomena of discourse markers, laughter and politeness to structure their communication and their community. Through analysis of in-game conversations gathered from a community of said players, this study demonstrates how each of these phenomena work together to build a community based on inclusive language and positive …
El Uso Variable De Los Pronombres Sujetos En El Castellano Puertorriqueño Hablado En Luisiana Y Puerto Rico, Lee-Ann Marie Vidal Covas
El Uso Variable De Los Pronombres Sujetos En El Castellano Puertorriqueño Hablado En Luisiana Y Puerto Rico, Lee-Ann Marie Vidal Covas
LSU Master's Theses
Abstracto: La alternancia entre sujetos expresos y tácitos constituye una característica fundamental del castellano. Orozco (under review:15) indica que el uso variable de los pronombres sujetos es una característica morfosintáctica heredada del latín. Leonetti (2009: 8) propone que la “alternancia no es siempre del todo libre, ya que está determinada por algunos factores gramaticales y discursivos, pero podemos afirmar que en un buen número de contextos realmente existe la posibilidad de optar libremente” entre usar un pronombre explícito y usar uno implícito o tácito. El presente estudio explora la variación en el uso de los pronombres personales de sujeto en …
Translating The Fashion Story: Analyzing Fashion Captions In Two Women's Magazines, Ehimwenma O. Vosper-Woghiren
Translating The Fashion Story: Analyzing Fashion Captions In Two Women's Magazines, Ehimwenma O. Vosper-Woghiren
LSU Master's Theses
Fashion magazines are the most accessible source for women to learn the latest about fashion and trends. Publishing company Condé Nast owns many consumer fashion magazines including the American editions of Lucky and Vogue. Even though both magazines are classified under the genre of fashion, these magazines are branded differently. Vogue features editorial styling, which is garments arranged lavishly and creatively for the glossy fashion spreads. However, Lucky magazine contains both editorial and lifestyle styling. To reinforce the styled image, fashion magazines place captions in these editorials. Captions transform these garments into written language. Since each magazine uses different types …
I Can Has Thesis? A Linguistic Analysis Of Lolspeak, Jordan Lefler
I Can Has Thesis? A Linguistic Analysis Of Lolspeak, Jordan Lefler
LSU Master's Theses
Lolspeak, which I characterize as an internet dialect of English that is used in conjunction with images of cats, exhibits distinctive variations and patterns which differ from those of standard English. Lolspeak has influenced other language use and may have a significant impact on the English language, due in part to the internet’s role in the evolution of English (Crystal “Language and the Internet,” 2006:26-27). To approach this data, I created a multi-modal discourse transcription technique for analyzing Lolspeak utterances within the context of their images based on Grounded Theory (Glaser and Strauss “The Discovery of Grounded Theory” 2007:9). I …
The Acquisition Of Pragmatic Competence: Compliment Response Strategies In Learners Of Spanish, James Bryant Smith
The Acquisition Of Pragmatic Competence: Compliment Response Strategies In Learners Of Spanish, James Bryant Smith
LSU Doctoral Dissertations
The areas of Pragmatics and Second Language Acquisition have existed separately in the field of Linguistics for some time. Their connection, however, has more recently seen a great deal of study by researchers like Scarcella and Brunak (1981), Rintell (1981), Brown and Levinson (1987), Koike (1992, 1996), Saito, Beecken (1997), Félix-Brasdefer (2003, 2006) and Huth (2006). A common thread in these studies is the effect of language transfer or cross-linguistic influence that the first language has while learners are attempting to acquire the pragmatic and politeness principles that are central to the target language and culture. One speech act that …
Attitudes Des Éducateurs Envers Le Français Et Le Créole: Le Cas D'Haïti, Lesly Jean-François
Attitudes Des Éducateurs Envers Le Français Et Le Créole: Le Cas D'Haïti, Lesly Jean-François
LSU Doctoral Dissertations
Language attitudes represent a serious challenge for Haitian education policy makers. This research is the first attempt to study the attitudes of elementary school educators toward the linguistic situation in Haiti. A survey of 154 teachers addressed their attitudes toward language use, preference and choice, and their stereotypes toward other Haitian native speakers. Three instruments (quantitative questionnaire, Match-Guise-Technique, and qualitative questionnaire) were utilized and two Statistical Methods (descriptive and inference), along with Chi-Square were used in order to observe the significance of differences in independent variables. Since Haitian teachers who participated in this study were assumed bilingual, the questionnaire first …
Variation In The Performance Of Speech Acts In Peninsular Spanish: Apologies And Requests, Laura Elizabeth Stapleton
Variation In The Performance Of Speech Acts In Peninsular Spanish: Apologies And Requests, Laura Elizabeth Stapleton
LSU Doctoral Dissertations
This study examines variations in the performance of speech acts and additional discourse features in situational speech patterns of Peninsular Spanish. Based on studies by Blum-Kulka, et al. (1989), nine situations were created, varying from less severe to more severe, to elicit natural responses for apologies and requests. Forty participants from Castile and Andalusia were interviewed, and the data were coded to examine the differences in speech act realizations and the use of specific discourse features. The participants’ responses were classified by regional, gender, and age differences for the data set. Sociolinguistic differences in the use of additional discourse features …
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 …
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 …
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 …
Ideomotor Apraxia And Lesion Location: Analysis Of Error Types, Motor Function, And Task Demands., Brenda Hanna-Pladdy
Ideomotor Apraxia And Lesion Location: Analysis Of Error Types, Motor Function, And Task Demands., Brenda Hanna-Pladdy
LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses
Ideomotor apraxia is a disorder of learned skilled movement which typically has been attributed to damage confined predominantly to the frontal and parietal cortical areas within the hemisphere dominant for speech. However, most studies of the anatomical basis of apraxia have relied on case studies or have only approximate lesion localization, and few studies have examined motor performance in relation to lesion location. This study examined the relationship of apraxia severity to lesion location (in both cortical/subcortical dimensions and anterior/posterior dimensions), aphasia, motor performance, and task demands, and identified the existence of subtypes of apraxia with characteristic performance profiles (error …
Adjective Acquisition: Developmental Changes In The Use Of The Shape Bias, Syntax, Shape Consistency, And Semantic Attributes., Lenore Carol Frigo
Adjective Acquisition: Developmental Changes In The Use Of The Shape Bias, Syntax, Shape Consistency, And Semantic Attributes., Lenore Carol Frigo
LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses
When learning vocabulary, children must determine the meaning of each word that they hear. In hypothesizing about word meanings, children follow certain principles that simplify vocabulary acquisition. Among these principles are several that lead children to follow a shape bias. Under the shape bias, children assume that words extend to objects that share a common shape. This shape bias is useful for learning count nouns, which often include whole-object shape as an important aspect of meaning. However, the shape bias is not useful for the development of other word classes, such as adjectives. In this study, several variables were examined …
Linguistics And Poetry: Phonological Performance Analysis As Key To Interpretation In Donne's Lyrics., Sara Witsell Anderson
Linguistics And Poetry: Phonological Performance Analysis As Key To Interpretation In Donne's Lyrics., Sara Witsell Anderson
LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses
This study blends linguistic science and literary criticism by using phonological theory and methodology to uncover interpretive clues in the form of structurally-based guidance to the manner of performance of certain lines of selected poems. Its underlying assumption is that with regard to interpretation, the oral dimension of metrical lyric poetry is at least as important as the written dimension, since such commonly accepted features as meter, rhyme, and alliteration depend on oral performance of the poetry involved, at least in the form of the reader's sounding it imaginarily to the mind's ear. It follows that intonationally precise renditions of …
Deux Niveaux D'Expression Du Systeme Aspectuel-Temporel En Francais., You Qi He
Deux Niveaux D'Expression Du Systeme Aspectuel-Temporel En Francais., You Qi He
LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses
There are, among natural languages in the world, two modes of temporal expression: tensed languages use morphological means to express time relationships; whereas tenseless languages use only lexical, co-textual and/or contextual means in their temporal expression. In fact, we can also identify two modes of temporal expression among different moods in French. The Indicative Mood uses morphological means to expresse time relationships; whereas with moods other than the Indicative (i.e. the Infinitive, the Participle, the Subjunctive and the Conditional), the utterer has to recourse to lexical, co-textual and/or contextual indication to distinguish different time relationships. Furthermore, within the forms of …
Famine, Plague, And Greed: Socio-Historical Factors Affecting The Development Of The Middle English Dialect Of London., George Vincent Yonek
Famine, Plague, And Greed: Socio-Historical Factors Affecting The Development Of The Middle English Dialect Of London., George Vincent Yonek
LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses
A significant factor in the rise of Standard English was the importance of London as a center of commerce and government, yet the foundation for Modern Standard English is not derived from the Southern dialects, which heavily influenced London in the late Old English and early Middle English period. The variety of English we speak and write today is derived mainly from the East Midland dialect and, to a lesser extent, the North in late Middle English. The purpose of this thesis is to explore the socio-historical causes behind this change in the distribution of features of the London dialect. …
The Efficacy Of Scaffolding Strategies In Holistic Language Intervention On Language And Phonologically Delayed Children., Monica Lynne Bradshaw
The Efficacy Of Scaffolding Strategies In Holistic Language Intervention On Language And Phonologically Delayed Children., Monica Lynne Bradshaw
LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses
This study investigated the efficacy of scaffolding strategies within holistic language intervention with six language and phonologically delayed preschool children. The scaffolding condition was compared to two experimental controls using either wh-questions or print awareness techniques. It was hypothesizsd that the use of scaffolding strategies would result in greater semantic displacement, syntactic complexity, and phonological complexity than the use of either the wh-questions or print awareness controls. Efficacy of the conditions was measured by (a) semantic levels, (b) mean length of utterance, and (c) percent of words produced correctly. An alternating treatment was employed in the single-subject study. The subjects …
Linguistic And Cultural Immersion And Second Language Acquisition: International Young Student Exchange., Rosita Mira Maristany
Linguistic And Cultural Immersion And Second Language Acquisition: International Young Student Exchange., Rosita Mira Maristany
LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses
The trend in foreign language learning reflects a move from "fragmented" language to "whole" language (Rigg 1991). It includes the individual as well as the social aspect of language acquisition; and the integration of language and culture. Student international exchange programs provide the ideal atmosphere for "whole" language learning and the integration of language and culture in total language and cultural immersion. Most research in international student exchange programs described the organization of the program or addressed a particular variable. There is a need for integrative "whole" research rather than "fragmented" research. The method chosen as most appropriate for this …
The Effect Of Developmental Factors On The Use Of An Electronic Communication Device., Judith Danute Oxley
The Effect Of Developmental Factors On The Use Of An Electronic Communication Device., Judith Danute Oxley
LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses
This study addressed a poorly understood variable of voice output communication aid (VOCA) use, namely mnemonic development. Forty children without disabilities, aged from 49 to 60 months, were required to use an IntroTalker (Prentke Romich Company) to participate in a one-on-one storybook reading task with the investigator. They were provided with sixteen messages to use during a scripted reading of The Three Bears. Children could use a trained verbal elaboration strategy or generate their own methods to retrieve messages. Immediate and delayed responses of children under two training methods were compared, and the contribution of developmental factors, including metamemory, were …
Performing The Community, Telling The Self: Storytelling By Members Of A Group Home For Men With Mental Retardation., Sharon Elizabeth Croft
Performing The Community, Telling The Self: Storytelling By Members Of A Group Home For Men With Mental Retardation., Sharon Elizabeth Croft
LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses
This study uses an ethnographic approach to examine the stories told by members of a group home for men with mental retardation. The author contends that the culture of the group home works to constrain how group home members interact within this community. The author argues, however, that despite the cultural constraints, the men use storytelling to establish their individuality, even though the stories themselves, in their content and in the performance of their telling, often reify cultural constraints and their cultural constructions. The author recounts how she, as ethnographer, interacted within this community. After identifying, describing, and analyzing eight …
Normal And Pathological Breakdown In Arabic., Sabah Safi-Stagni
Normal And Pathological Breakdown In Arabic., Sabah Safi-Stagni
LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses
The grammatical structure of Arabic allows for significant cross-linguistic comparisons in the study of Slips-of-the-tongue as well as aphasia. The dissertation presents a case study of the aphasic deficit in the speech of a speaker of Arabic, in particular, the Hijazi dialect spoken in the Western Province of Saudi Arabia, with a subsequent comparison with regular slips-of-the-tongue in the same dialect collected and analyzed by the same author. Both the slips-of-the-tongue data and the aphasia data have been collected in the city of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, by the present investigator. It was observed that in such a highly inflected language, …
Acquiring Vocabulary In A Foreign Language: Some Effects Of The Nature Of Instruction On The Knowledge And Use Of Words., Louise Stowell-Ruzicka
Acquiring Vocabulary In A Foreign Language: Some Effects Of The Nature Of Instruction On The Knowledge And Use Of Words., Louise Stowell-Ruzicka
LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses
The purpose of this study was to examine the effect that the nature of instruction of French vocabulary words has on student knowledge and use of the words on five different measures: a definition recognition test, a cloze plus word bank test, a comprehension of a text containing the words, a writing assignment designed to elicit free use of these words and a test of overall reading proficiency. Eighty-one high school students in the second year course of French constituted three treatment groups: (1) traditional instruction where students were required to learn a list of 12 words paired with their …
Theoretical And Pedagogical Applications Of Discourse Analysis To Professional Writing., Kim Sydow Campbell
Theoretical And Pedagogical Applications Of Discourse Analysis To Professional Writing., Kim Sydow Campbell
LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses
This dissertation attempts to show the utility of discourse analysis for professional writing. The articles collected here fall into three categories: Chapter One provides an overview of the need for a discourse analysis approach in writing research; Chapters Two and Three demonstrate applications of Speech Act Theory to problems in tone; and Chapters Four, Five and Six suggest the role that cohesion and coherence play in professional writing. Chapter One notes that, with the emphasis on process, discourse based research has largely fallen out of favor with writing specialists. Despite this lack of enthusiasm, this chapter demonstrates the importance of …
The Role Of Sonority In Jargonaphasia., Sarah Slack Christman
The Role Of Sonority In Jargonaphasia., Sarah Slack Christman
LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses
The Sonority Sequencing Principle suggests that the relative sonority rank among sounds can explain intrasyllabic and transsyllabic phoneme ordering patterns in normal speakers. The values of segments can be ranked from most to least sonority as follows: Vowels, Glides, Liquids, Nasals and Obstruents. The unmarked order of segments within an initial demisyllable is O-N-L-G from the periphery toward the peak, and G-L-N-O in a final demisyllable from the peak toward the periphery. The sonority "slope" of an initial demisyllable will be steep to maximize the perceptual saliency of syllable onset. In a final demisyllable, especially if embedded, the slope will …
The Effects Of Linguistic And Non-Linguistic Context On The Deictic Interpretation Of Noun Phrases., Daniel George Foster
The Effects Of Linguistic And Non-Linguistic Context On The Deictic Interpretation Of Noun Phrases., Daniel George Foster
LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses
Definite noun phrases (NP's), proper names, and third person pronouns are not consistently interpreted deictically. Furthermore, these three types and first and second person pronouns, or potentially deictic NP's, whether deictic or not, may be interpreted as pertaining to the universe of discourse that each text creates, the situation of writing in which the text is created, or the attitudes of the writer towards the referent of a particular NP. Universe of discourse NP's include generic and descriptive NP's and those deictic in the most basic sense (i.e. those that point within the spatio-temporal field of the world external to …