Digital Commons Network^™

Exploring Children's Perceptions Of African American English, Tamika L. Lewis

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The differences in attitudes toward African American English (AAE) and Mainstream American English (MAE) were investigated among elementary students (N=34) and middle school students (N=40) using the Speech Evaluation Instrument (SEI). Participants listened to audio recordings of speakers of AAE and MAE and then completed the SEI.

Both elementary and middle school students perceived MAE positively (p =.005), as hypothesized. However, for both hypotheses related to AAE, the researcher hypothesized that both groups would perceive the language negatively; however, in both cases, the researcher failed to reject the null hypothesis. Comparing how each group perceived …

Speech-Language Pathology Interns’ Perceptions Of What Supervisors Value Most During Clinical Practicum, Karin Cardozo

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this investigation was to analyze interns’ perceptions of what supervisors considered important supervisory behaviors and to compare those perceptions with what the supervisors considered important. Participants consisted of 33 interns and 23 supervisors. Results of two surveys collected in previous studies were compared and analyzed. Tihen’s (1983) “Tihen’s Student Expectations of their Clinical Supervisor(s) Scale” was used for the intern group. A modified version of the same scale was used for the supervisor group. The scale rated five domains: passive, evaluative, active, cooperative, and affective.

Results revealed that interns ranked perceptions of what supervisors considered important supervisory …

The Linguistic Market Of Codeswitching In U.S. Latino Literature, Marilyn Zeledon

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation is a multidisciplinary study that brings together the fields of literature, sociolinguistics, and cultural studies in order to understand the motivation and meaning of English-Spanish codeswitching or language alternation in Latino literature produced in the United States. Codeswitching was first introduced in Latino literature around the time of the Chicano Movement in the 1970s and has been used as a distinctive feature of Latino literary works to this day. By doing a close linguistic analysis of narratives by four different authors belonging to the largest Latino communities in the country (Chicano, Puerto Ricans, Dominican Americans, and Cuban Americans), …

Gis-Integrated Mathematical Modeling Of Social Phenomena At Macro- And Micro- Levels—A Multivariate Geographically-Weighted Regression Model For Identifying Locations Vulnerable To Hosting Terrorist Safe-Houses: France As Case Study, Elyktra Eisman

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Adaptability and invisibility are hallmarks of modern terrorism, and keeping pace with its dynamic nature presents a serious challenge for societies throughout the world. Innovations in computer science have incorporated applied mathematics to develop a wide array of predictive models to support the variety of approaches to counterterrorism. Predictive models are usually designed to forecast the location of attacks. Although this may protect individual structures or locations, it does not reduce the threat—it merely changes the target. While predictive models dedicated to events or social relationships receive much attention where the mathematical and social science communities intersect, models dedicated to …

Zora Neale Hurston And The Narrative Aesthetics Of Dance Performance, Jennifer M. Sittig

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Zora Neale Hurston’s literature involves dance and performance. What makes this a viable topic of inquiry is her texts often exhibit the performative, whether portraying culture or using dance and associated folk rituals to create complex meaning. Hurston’s use of black vernacular and storytelling evokes lyrical expression in "Their Eyes Were Watching God." African and Caribbean Diasporas in Hurston’s literature reflects primitive dance performances and folklore. This novel requires lyrical analysis. The storytelling feature of performance arts and reclamations of the body are present in Hurston’s text. In recent academic settings, the body has come to occupy a crucial place …

Data Verifications For Online Social Networks, Mahmudur Rahman

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Social networks are popular platforms that simplify user interaction and encourage collaboration. They collect large amounts of media from their users, often reported from mobile devices. The value and impact of social media makes it however an attractive attack target. In this thesis, we focus on the following social media vulnerabilities. First, review centered social networks such as Yelp and Google Play have been shown to be the targets of significant search rank and malware proliferation attacks. Detecting fraudulent behaviors is thus paramount to prevent not only public opinion bias, but also to curb the distribution of malware. Second, the …

The Patristic Reception Of The Speakers In John 3, Jeremy S. Paulovkin

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The identification of the speakers in John 3:13-21 and 3:31-36 has remained a longstanding question in biblical studies, confirmed by the difference of opinion in commentaries and the lack of agreement over the placement of quotation marks in contemporary versions of the Bible. The scholarly debate has centered on whether these passages ought to be interpreted as continuations of the words of Jesus and the Baptist, or as authorial commentary appended to their respective discourses. The purpose of this study was to remedy this interpretive difficulty by approaching the question from a wholly different angle: that of tracing the reception …

An Exploration Of The Reasons And Purposes Of Non-Japanese Undergraduate Students For Taking A Beginners’ Japanese Language Course, Asuka H. Mashav

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study took place at Florida International University (FIU), a large public research university in Miami, Florida and one of largest Hispanic serving institutions in the United States. The purpose of this study was to explore the motivations of non-Japanese undergraduate students for taking a beginners’ Japanese language course. In-depth one-hour semi-structured interviews were conducted with 12 participants before the fall semester of 2014 (Phase I) and 10 after the semester (Phase II). Two major themes emerged from the inductive analysis of the data: attraction to Japanese culture and utility of using the Japanese language. Sub-themes for attraction to Japanese …

Vertical Handoff Target Selection In A Heterogeneous Wireless Network Using Fuzzy Electre, Mukesh Ramalingam

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Global connectivity is on the verge of becoming a reality to provide high-speed, high-quality, and reliable communication channels for mobile devices at anytime, anywhere in the world. In a heterogeneous wireless environment, one of the key ingredients to provide efficient and ubiquitous computing with guaranteed quality and continuity of service is the design of intelligent handoff algorithms. Traditional single-metric handoff decision algorithms, such as Received Signal Strength (RSS), are not efficient and intelligent enough to minimize the number of unnecessary handoffs, decision delays, call-dropping and blocking probabilities.

This research presents a novel approach for of a Multi Attribute Decision Making …

Investigation Of Bilingualism Knowledge Of Speech-Language Pathologists And Speech-Language Pathology Students, Michelle Leon

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this thesis was to administer a survey to obtain information on practicing Speech-Language Pathologists’ (SLPs) knowledge of bilingual issues, while also considering whether any academic background on bilingualism guides SLP’s diagnostic and treatment options. This was done by comparing survey results of practicing SLPs with different academic backgrounds on bilingualism with current Master’s students registered at the Communication Sciences and Disorders Masters’ program at Florida International University (FIU). The survey consisted of 26 questions that examined participant’s history, and bilingual knowledge.

Data was collected from 89 surveys. Data analyses showed that students and SLPs with a strong …

Parent-Child Interactions In The Presence Of Risk For Adhd With And Without Language Impairment, Sisan Walker Angel

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this research was to analyze how parent-child interactions differ in discourse structure, communicative function and linguistic behaviors between children who are at high-risk for developing a behavioral disorder such as ADHD, and those who are at high-risk for developing a behavioral disorder with a co-occurring language impairment. Participants consisted of 20 children ages three to five years old and their parents. A five-minute parent-child interaction was video recorded and analyzed using an adapted version of the “Coding parent/child interaction as a clinical outcome: a research note” designed by Law, Barnett, and Kot (1999).

Results revealed slight differences …

Higher Education In And For Rural Bolivia: Key Stakeholders' Perceptions Of The Educational Experiences Of Students Who Have Attended Unidad Académica Campesina Carmen Pampa., Claudio R. Merisio

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Unidad Académica Campesina-Carmen Pampa (UAC-CP) is an institution of higher education located in the rural community of Carmen Pampa, in the Nor Yungas region of Bolivia. As articulated in its mission, the goal of UAC-CP is to prepare young Bolivians to serve their community as professionals with a commitment to bettering the lot of the poorest among them. This research attempted to answer a main question: What are the perceptions of key UAC-CP stakeholders of how the college prepares seniors and alumni to serve their communities as professionals? The sub-question was: What professional endeavors have seniors and alumni pursued upon …

L'Italiano A Miami: An Investigation Of The Current Status Of The Teaching And Learning Of The Italian Language In Miami And Of Students' Motivational Factors, Antonella La Tegola

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this thesis was to investigate the current status of the study of Italian in Miami and particularly to identify the motivational factors behind student enrollment in local Italian programs. A qualitative study was carried out based on interviews with the local director of “Società Dante Alighieri” and four students studying Italian in two different settings. Gardner and Lambert’s (1959) concepts of instrumental and integrative motivation and the motivation components identified by Csizér and Dörnyei (2005) provided the conceptual framework for this study.

According to the information obtained from the five participants the study of Italian in Miami …

Hybrid Power System Intelligent Operation And Protection Involving Plug-In Electric Vehicles, Tan Ma

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Two key solutions to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions and increase the overall energy efficiency are to maximize the utilization of renewable energy resources (RERs) to generate energy for load consumption and to shift to low or zero emission plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs) for transportation. The present U.S. aging and overburdened power grid infrastructure is under a tremendous pressure to handle the issues involved in penetration of RERS and PEVs. The future power grid should be designed with for the effective utilization of distributed RERs and distributed generations to intelligently respond to varying customer demand including PEVs with high level …

The World Of The United States Foreign Policy Elite: A Case Study Of The U.S. Foreign Policy Think Tanks' Debates In The General Elections Of 2004, 2008, And 2012, Seyed Hamidreza Serri

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

American foreign policy think tanks are an important part of the American foreign policy elite. By gathering data, publishing research, and reaching out to the public and government, think tanks help set the public debate agenda. The question I asked was whether these American foreign policy think tanks exhibited a shared worldview during the past three election cycles. I analyzed 7,000 documents (half a million verbs) published by the seven American foreign policy think tanks active in the three general elections of 2004, 2008, and 2012: the American Enterprise Institute, the Brookings Institution, the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, the …

The World In Singing Made: David Markson's "Wittgenstein's Mistress", Tiffany L. Fajardo

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In line with Wittgenstein's axiom that "what the solipsist means is quite correct; only it cannot be said, but makes itself manifest," this thesis aims to demonstrate how the gulf between analytic and continental philosophy can best be bridged through the mediation of art. The present thesis brings attention to Markson's work, lauded in the tradition of Faulkner, Joyce, and Lowry, as exemplary of the shift from modernity to postmodernity, wherein the human heart is not only in conflict with itself, but with the language out of which it is necessarily constituted. Markson limns the paradoxical condition of the subject …

Comparison Of Linear Functions In Middle Grades Textbooks From Singapore And The United States, Linda D. Fowler

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Many U.S. students do not perform well on mathematics assessments with respect to algebra topics such as linear functions, a building-block for other functions. Poor achievement of U.S. middle school students in this topic is a problem.

U.S. eighth graders have had average mathematics scores on international comparison tests such as Third International Mathematics Science Study, later known as Trends in Mathematics and Science Study, (TIMSS)-1995, -99, -03, while Singapore students have had highest average scores. U.S. eighth grade average mathematics scores improved on TIMMS-2007 and held steady onTIMMS-2011. Results from national assessments, PISA 2009 and 2012 and National Assessment …

The (Wo)Man In The Masque: Cross-Dressing As Disguise In Early Modern English Literature, Chelsea E. Franco

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Characters’ identities are integral to how audiences relate to them. But what happens when the character suddenly alters his or her outward appearance? Are they still the same person? This thesis seeks to argue that disguise does not alter a character’s true nature, as evidenced by Pyrocles in Sir Philip Sidney’s The Countess of Pembroke’s Arcadia and the Prince in Margaret Cavendish’s The Convent of Pleasure. Both Pyrocles’ suit of Philoclea and the Prince’s suit of Lady Happy are successful because, however subversive they appear at first, they ultimately adhere to societal norms of the time. The relationship between …

Semantic Categorization In Portuguese-English Bilinguals, Lilian M. Mcleod

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The main purpose of this study was to investigate the cross-linguistic interactions in the semantic categorization of late Portuguese-English bilinguals. The lexical items used in this study have a wider range of applications in one language and narrower in the other. Three types of categories were examined: classical, homophones, and radials.

Late Portuguese-English bilinguals, as well as Portuguese and English monolinguals, were tested. After hearing a word, participants were asked to choose from a set of images, one that could be labelled as such.

Analyses showed that when tested in English, participants performed better when it was the wider language. …

Exoneration Or Observation? Examining A Novel Difference Between Liars And Truth Tellers, Peter F. Molinaro

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Individual cues to deception are subtle and often missed by lay people and law enforcement alike. Linguistic statement analysis remains a potentially useful way of overcoming individual diagnostic limitations (e.g. Criteria based Content Analysis; Steller & Köhnken, 1989; Reality monitoring; Johnson & Raye, 1981; Scientific Content Analysis; Sapir, 1996). Unfortunately many of these procedures are time-consuming, require in-depth training, as well as lack empirical support and/or external validity. The current dissertation develops a novel approach to statement veracity analysis that is simple to learn, easy to administer, theoretically sound, and empirically validated.

Two strategies were proposed for detecting differences between …

Learning Data-Driven Models Of Non-Verbal Behaviors For Building Rapport Using An Intelligent Virtual Agent, Reza Amini

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

There is a growing societal need to address the increasing prevalence of behavioral health issues, such as obesity, alcohol or drug use, and general lack of treatment adherence for a variety of health problems. The statistics, worldwide and in the USA, are daunting. Excessive alcohol use is the third leading preventable cause of death in the United States (with 79,000 deaths annually), and is responsible for a wide range of health and social problems. On the positive side though, these behavioral health issues (and associated possible diseases) can often be prevented with relatively simple lifestyle changes, such as losing weight …

The Modern State And The Re-Creation Of The Indigenous Other: The Case Of The Authentic Sámi In Sweden And The White Man’S Indian In The United States Of America., Luca Zini

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The present study comparatively examined the socio-political and economic transformation of the indigenous Sámi in Sweden and the Indian American in the United States of America occurring first as a consequence of colonization and later as a product of interaction with the modern territorial and industrial state, from approximately 1500 to 1900.

The first colonial encounters of the Europeans with these autochthonous populations ultimately created an imagery of the exotic Other and of the noble savage. Despite these disparaging representations, the cross-cultural settings in which these interactions took place also produced the hybrid communities and syncretic life that allowed levels …

Russia's Islam: Discourse On Identity, Politics, And Security, Simona E. Merati

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Despite the long history of Muslims in Russia, most scholarly and political literatures on Russia’s Islam still narrowly interpret Muslim-Slavs relations in an ethnic-religious oppositional framework.

In my work, I examine Russia’s discourse on Islam to argue that, in fact, the role of Islam in post-Soviet Russia is complex. Drawing from direct sources from academic, state, journalistic, and underground circles, often neglected by Western commentators, I identify ideational patterns in conceptualizations of Islam and reconstruct relational networks among authors. To explain complex intertextual relations within specific contexts, I utilize an analytically eclectic method that appropriately combines theories from different paradigms …

A Cross-Generational Analysis Of Spanish-To-English Lexico-Semantic Phenomena In Emerging Miami English, Kristen Mullen

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Sociolinguists have documented the substrate influence of various languages on the formation of dialects in numerous ethnic-regional setting throughout the United States. This literature shows that while phonological and grammatical influences from other languages may be instantiated as durable dialect features, lexical phenomena often fade over time as ethnolinguistic communities assimilate with contiguous dialect groups. In preliminary investigations of emerging Miami Latino English, we have observed that lexical forms based on Spanish lexical forms are not only ubiquitous among the speech of the first generation Cuban Americans but also of the second. Examples, observed in field work, casual observation, and …

Perceiving Spanish In Miami: The Interaction Of Dialect And National Labeling, Salvatore Callesano

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The current study implements a speech perception experiment that interrogates local perceptions of Spanish varieties in Miami. Participants (N=292) listened to recordings of three Spanish varieties (Peninsular, Highland Colombian, and Post-Castro Cuban) and were given background information about the speakers, including the parents’ country of origin. In certain cases, the parents’ national-origin label matched the country of origin of the speaker, but otherwise the background information and voices were mismatched. The manipulation distinguishes perceptions determined by bottom-up cues (dialect) from top-down ones (social information). Participants then rated each voice for a range of personal characteristics and answered hypothetical questions about …

Foreign Language Education In Colombia: A Qualitative Study Of Escuela Nueva, Daniel A. Ramirez Lamus

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Since 2004 the Colombian Ministry of Education has been implementing the Programa Nacional de Bilingüismo (PNB) with the goal of having bilingual high school graduates in English and Spanish by 2019. However, implementation of the PNB has been criticized by English Language Teaching (ELT) specialists in the country who say, among other things, that the PNB introduced a discourse associated exclusively with bilingualism in English and Spanish.

This study analyzed interviews with 15 participants of a public school of the Colombian Escuela Nueva, a successful model of community-based education that has begun a process of internationalization, regarding the participants’ perceptions …

Vowels In The 305: A First Pass At Miami Latino English, Lydda Lopez

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In this paper, I present preliminary findings of the first-large scale, systematic study of English Latino vowels in Miami. Sociolinguistic interviews were conducted with 25 Miami-born participants: 10 Anglo Whites and 15 Latinos with varying degrees of Spanish fluency. Here I focus on the vowel quality (/i, ɪ, ai, æ, ɔ, u /) in the speech of the 2nd and 3rd generations to examine the nature of influence of Spanish on English in Miami over the past 60 years. I conduct an in-depth analysis of the vowel productions of two female speakers, Maria & Blaze, to show the range of …

English Language Learners: A Correlational Study Of The Relationship Between A Proficiency Level Assessment And End Of Course Test Scores At One Georgia High School, Jacqueline Caroline Ellis

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Understanding the language of one’s cultural environment is important for effective communication and function. As such, students entering U.S. schools from foreign countries are given access to English to Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) programs and they are referred to as English Language Learner (ELL) students. This dissertation examined the correlation of ELL ACCESS Composite Performance Level (CPL) score to the End of Course tests (EOCTs) and the Georgia High School Graduation Tests (GHSGTs) in the four content courses (language arts, mathematics, science, and social studies). A premise of this study was that English language proficiency is critical in meeting …

Becoming Other: Virtual Realities In Contemporary Science Fiction, Jamie N. Franks

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this thesis was to explore the boundary between human and other created by virtual worlds in contemporary science fiction novels. After a close reading of the three novels: Surface Detail, Existence, and Lady of Mazes, and the application of contemporary literary theories, the boundary presented itself and led to the discovery of where the human becomes other. The human becomes other when it becomes lost to the virtual world and no longer exists or interacts with material reality. Each of the primary texts exhibits both virtual reality and humanity in different ways, and each is explored to …

On Record: Soundscapes As Metaphor And Physical Manifestation Of Memory In Early Holocaust Novels And Contemporary Criticism, Mariane Stanev

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis compares two perspectives on the production of Holocaust memory: a novel that leads up to The Holocaust in Britain and one that reflects the hindsight perspective of a liberator in the Soviet Union. The novels are Virginia Woolf’s BETWEEN THE ACTS and Vasily Grossman’s LIFE AND FATE. The analysis offers a locus of analysis for the diasporic literary energy created by the catastrophe in the 20^th and 21^st centuries. The project offers a theorized standpoint on the role of literature on official historical archives. Proposing a method through which contemporary readers can engage the diasporic event …