Linguistics Commons^™

English Loan Words In Japanese: Exploring Comprehension And Register, Naoko Horikawa

Dissertations and Theses

English loan words (ELWs) have become a considerable part of the contemporary Japanese vocabulary. Meanwhile, it has been shown that there are individual differences in the rate of ELW comprehension. Among the factors for low comprehension is age; people over 60 years old have been shown to comprehend fewer ELWs than the overall age group. As Japan is expected to soon enter the era of an aging society, the issue of ELW comprehension is likely to present serious social and personal problems. The purpose of this study was to identify the current state of frequently used ELWs in contemporary written …

The Role Of Compliment Topics In Compliment Response, Hiroko Katsuta

Dissertations and Theses

This study examines the role of compliment topic by analyzing compliment responses by Japanese and American college students. Compliment responses can be seen as solutions for maintaining a balance between (1) a preference to avoid self-praise and (2) a preference to accept or agree with the compliment (Pomerantz 1978). Building on studies showing that response strategies can be influenced by compliment content and context, the study analyzed responses to compliments on ability, achievement, belongings, appearance, and personal characteristics by determining the subjects' choice of response strategy--categorized as acceptance, avoidance, or rejection--for each compliment topic. Compliment responses were elicited in a …

A Structural And Functional Analysis Of Codeswitching In Mi Vida Gitana 'My Gypsy Life,' A Bilingual Play, Gustavo Javier Fernandez

Dissertations and Theses

The present study analyzed the language in the script of the bilingual play Mi Vida Gitana 'My Gypsy Life' (Malán, 2006) in order to better understand issues relating to codeswitching (CS). The analysis was done from a structural and a functional perspective and utilized various models developed by renowned CS scholars.

For the structural analysis, I utilized concepts and ideas put forth in the three-tiered typology created by Muysken (2000) and the Matrix Language Frame model developed by Myers-Scotton (1993). The results of this portion of the study showed that some form of CS, whether occurring between turns or within …

A Library And Its Community: Exploring Perceptions Of Collaboration, Phoebe Vincenza Daurio

Dissertations and Theses

This study explores perceptions of interorganizational collaboration through an investigation of the opinions and actions of a public library and three community-based organizations. Interorganizational collaboration is often viewed as an effective strategy for accomplishing objectives that would not otherwise be possible with a single organization. Particularly for complex societal issues such as adult literacy, researchers and practitioners believe collaboration between organizations is necessary in order to achieve desired outcomes. Public libraries are engaging in collaborations also to extend their reach, establish the library’s relevance, increase community involvement, and advocate for their position as a community asset.

This thesis is a …

Building Community And Bridging Cultures: The Role Of Volunteer Tutors In Oregon’S Latino Serving Community-Based Organizations, Troy Vaughn Hickman

Dissertations and Theses

Literature for and about successful volunteer literacy programs highlight and advocate for practices that inform administrators and trainers of the needs and expectations of volunteer tutors. Applications of this knowledge can affect the type of policies that administrators implement in their programs and the type of support that they provide for their tutors. This project was an opportunity for the researcher to reflect on his experiences as a consultant and trainer with community-based programs and to increase his understanding of the volunteers in order to assist in future administration and training work.

Community-based volunteer literacy programs across Oregon are unique …

Beyond The Classroom Walls: A Study Of Out-Of-Class English Use By Adult Community College Esl Students, Tracey Louise Knight

Dissertations and Theses

Research in Second Language Acquisition indicates that using English outside of the classroom is an important part of the language learning process. However, studies done on university level ESL and EFL students indicate that students use English minimally when outside of the classroom. This thesis furthers the research on English use outside of the classroom in order to more fully understand all types of language learners and the link between language proficiency and out-of-class English use.

Lexical Choices In War Headlines: A Case Study, Jesse T. Harrington

Dissertations and Theses

Since most of our knowledge about current events such as wars in foreign countries comes via news reports, the ability to recognize bias in news media is an important skill. Linguistic discourse analysis is one way in which one can identify the unconscious biases evident in otherwise objective news. Patterns in positive and negative word choices can show which news actors a news organization identifies with and which an organization assumes to be suspect or ill-motivated.

The purpose of this study was to find such patterns in word choices from the war in Iraq. To this end, headlines were gathered …

Opal Creek: The Framing Of A Policy Controversy, James Floyd

Dissertations and Theses

The denouement of conflict is essential in the process of crafting public policy. The settlement of clashes over who get what, who pays, and who benefits is a critical component of a process described as decision making in the public interest. However, in some cases, the process results in unresolved controversy rather than the formulation of public policy. This may result from too little time being allocated to problem setting because of a rush to find problem solutions.

Conflict arises in public disputes due to a mixture of interests and values by multiple parties and the expression of divergent views …

A Dialect Study Of Oregon Norms, Lisa Wittenberg Hillyard

Dissertations and Theses

The pioneers and settlers of the Oregon Territory were not of one ilk. They came from various places and brought their separate speech patterns with them. This study sought to identify which major North American English dialect was present in the first half of the 20^th century in Oregon. Analysis relied on the descriptions for the Southern, Northern, Midlands, and Western dialects. Some dialect features have acoustic measurements attached to their descriptions, and others do not. The analytical process was based on acoustic measurements for vowel classes and individual tokens, as well as global observations about the place of …

The Acquisition Of A Stage Dialect, Nathaniel George Halloran

Dissertations and Theses

This study reports on the effectiveness of (theatrical) stage dialect learning techniques in bringing about linguistically authentic change. Actors use several techniques, some rather esoteric in nature and others more closely tied to linguistic fact such as the use of the International Phonetic Alphabet. The purpose of this study is to examine some of these techniques as to their ability to bring about linguistic authenticity, as well as to attempt a comparison of stage dialect acquisition and naturalistic dialect acquisition.

Data were collected by interviewing a convenience sample of twelve student actors. Six of these (three males, three females) were …

The Development Of Language Choice In A German Immersion School, Miranda Kussmaul Novash

Dissertations and Theses

When bilinguals converse with one another, they make choices about which language to speak. Many different factors have been shown to influence adult bilinguals' language choice, including interlocutor, setting, discourse content and discourse function. Less, however, is known about the factors influencing the language choice behavior of young bilinguals. Although case studies have provided into the type of language choice behavior exhibited by individual children, there is a lack of knowledge of the course of development from the language choice behavior of early childhood bilinguals to the more complex behavior of adult bilinguals.

This thesis examines the developmental pattern of …

Self-Perceptions Of Non-Native English Speaking Teachers Of English As A Second Language, Kathryn Ann Long

Dissertations and Theses

The purpose of the present study was to examine the self-perceptions of effective non-native English speaking teachers (non-NESTs) of English as a Second Language (ESL) regarding their teaching behaviors. The study also sought to discover the relationship between effective non-NEST perceptions of their teaching behaviors and stereotypes for those behaviors. It further sought to define what experiences have contributed to their non-conformation if their perceptions do not fit the negative stereotypes of teaching behaviors of non-NESTs.

Writing In The Contact Zone: Three Portraits Of Reflexivity And Transformation, Laurene L. Christensen

Dissertations and Theses

Culture is at the core of language teaching. Because classrooms are contact zones (Pratt 1991), teachers must have a well-developed sense of their own intercultural competence so that they may better facilitate the cross-cultural discovery inherent in language teaching. Teacher preparation programs need to provide opportunities for new teachers to increase their intercultural awareness. The purpose of this research was to qualitatively understand the experiences of pre-service teachers in a required culture-learning class at a large urban university. Specifically, the focus of this study was the completion of a mini-ethnography project designed to give the students a cross-cultural exchange. Since …

An Antidote To The Anesthetic: A Diary Study, Carol Rasmussen Schramm

Dissertations and Theses

The teaching experiences of an American ESL teacher, recorded in a critically reflective diary, for the basis for this study. Through analysis of the diary, the culturally formed and framed attitudes, beliefs, and assumptions of the teacher are explored in an attempt to understand the dialectic relationship between the diarist's culture and the cultures of her students. The researcher believes that increases in awareness in these areas can lead to improved teaching practice. Thus, one goal of this study is the professional development of its author.

The literature in the field of TESOL does not adequately address the impact of …

Form Or Function First In Foreign Language Classrooms?, Senta Görtler

Dissertations and Theses

The study was inspired by continuous discussion in the field of second language acquisition and teaching on the role of grammar instruction in successful language learning. Traditionally foreign language and second language classrooms have been taught with a pedagogical focus on language structure. More recently there has been support for second language classrooms focusing on content, function, or communication rather than form. The purpose of this quasi-experimental study was to compare the effectiveness of an innovative function-based classroom with a traditional form-based classroom.

During a ten-week period, one class of Intermediate German was taught in a form-based classroom while another …

Attitudes At The Bank : A Survey Of Reactions To Different Varieties Of English, Sean Wilcox

Dissertations and Theses

In the modem world of international communication, it is more common for speakers of different varieties of English to come into contact with each other on a daily basis. This can occur not only in face to face communication, but in telephone communication as well.

This study investigates the attitudes towards a non-native or Expanding Circle (ECE) variety of English held by telephone customer service representatives at a large American financial institution. The central question of this study asks whether or not these telephone representatives will rate a speaker of a Korean-accented variety of English higher or lower than a …

Effects Of Language Interpretation Services On Medical Visit Patterns Of Patients With Limited English Proficiency, Anita Marie Kay

Dissertations and Theses

Due largely to immigration, a growing proportion of the U.S. population does not speak English well enough to communicate with medical providers. Many research studies have described ways in which language differences can compromise health care quality and access for language minority groups, but professional interpreter services are rarely provided due to costs of services and to increasing cultural and linguistic diversity among patients with limited English proficiency (LEP). Some researchers have argued that costs of interpreter services could be offset through enabling LEP patients to maintain better health and use health services more cost-effectively, such as obtaining care in …

Language Attitudes And Academic Achievement: A Study Of Mexican Immigrant Esl Students In The Northwest, Julie Ann Cheshire

Dissertations and Theses

As the population of Mexican immigrant learners continues to increase in the Northwest, an understanding of the cultural, social and psychological realities of these students' lives becomes an ever more important issue for professional language educators, classroom teachers, and school administrators. Our understanding of the needs of these learners will have an important effect on how prepared they are to participate in academic situations and community life.

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between language attitudes and ESL learning among young adult Mexican-immigrant learners in one community education program in the Northwest. Learners' values and beliefs …

Portland Dialect Study: The Story Of /Æ/ In Portland, Jeffrey C. Conn

Dissertations and Theses

This study reports on the hypothesized raising of the low, front vowel /æ/, which is characteristic of a regional dialect vowel shift found in cities of the Midwest and Eastern North of the United States. The raising of this vowel is the primary change in a series of vowel shifts that have traditionally been attributed to this region of the U.S. The purpose of this study is to document the production of this vowel by residents of Portland, Oregon, in order to see what light it can shed on dialect research of the Pacific Northwest, especially across age groups to …

On Communicative Competence: Its Nature And Origin, Mary Lou Emerson

Dissertations and Theses

The purpose of this thesis is to trace the lineage of the term communicative competence (CC) and to provide a framework for understanding the term CC, a controversial term introduced by Hymes (1972). This pager argues that the term CC is only meaningful if it includes competence in the same sense as Chomsky (1980) defines it--underlying knowledge of the rules of language severed from ability. Although Chomsky discusses competence in terms of grammar, he suggests that there may be underlying knowledge of language use-pragmatic competence. In the end, I will attempt to demonstrate the possibility that there is a competence …

Use Of Cultural Topics In Electronic Dialogue Journals In The Foreign Language Classroom, Katya Elizabeth Monge Jacome

Dissertations and Theses

The purpose of this study has been to determine what effect the difference in cultural and general topics has on the length, complexity, and quality of resulting entries in electronic dialogue journals. The data, which consisted of 132 electronic dialogue entries generated by eleven adult students in a second year university Spanish course over a period of four weeks, were measured for length, in terms of total words and total number of t-units; complexity, by dividing the total number of words by the total number of t-units; and quality, as assessed by the Jacobs profile (1981), which considers the following …

Discourse Analysis: Backchanneling Behavior Of Advanced Speakers Of English/Japanese As A Second/Foreign Language, Keiko Ikeda

Dissertations and Theses

When a Japanese speaker or an American English speaker is engaged in an interaction in their second/foreign language (L2), they have choices in terms of language performance. They can maintain their behavior as what is conventional in their own first language/culture, what is expected in the partner's first language/culture, or what is believed to be the appropriate language behavior in the language in use (L2).

In this current study, backchanneling behavior is chosen to be one socio-pragmatic behavior that can be very different depending on language/culture. Data were collected in telephone conversations from a total of four listeners, all advanced …

Learning, Motivation, And Self: A Diary Study Of An Esl Teacher's Year In A Japanese Language Classroom, Laura Ruth Hawks

Dissertations and Theses

Using a journal kept during a year in a second-year level Japanese language class, a diary study of an adult's foreign language experience was undertaken by an ESL teacher and graduate student. Kept as a means of releasing the anger, stress, and frustration that initially accompanied the learning experience, the journal provides a basis for the analysis of cultural, pedagogical, and personal variables that affected the learning process.

The introspective and longitudinal nature of the study provides not only a description of the learning environment and teaching method over time, but also illuminates otherwise unobservable aspects of the learning experience, …

Survey Of Support For And Opposition To English Only Legislation In The Greater Portland Region, Leah Ann Woodruff

Dissertations and Theses

The politics of language is something that all ESL instructors will deal with at some point in their careers. The English Only Movement is an important part of the current trend in language legislation. As ESL instructors we need to understand what motivates people in our communities to support or oppose such legislation, so that we can better prepare our students to operate in that community. Many articles have been written on the English Only Movement, but the vast majority of them are from a historical or politically partisan view. Little research has been done in regard to why this …

The Relationship Between Chinese Character Recognition Strategies And The Success Of Character Memorization For Students Of Mandarin Chinese, Hui-Yen Emmy Chen

Dissertations and Theses

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between beginning Chinese language students' character memorization and the strategies they used for the recognition of Chinese characters. In the experiment, a new character teaching approach, the phonetic-ideograph strategy, was introduced to all the subjects during two quarter terms. Subjects participated in the study were divided into two groups depended upon their language backgrounds: the phonographic group and the morphographic group. All the subjects in the phonographic group were English speakers and subjects in the morphographic group were Japanese speakers. All the subjects received the same treatment in the study. …

Error Correction Preferences Of Latino Esl Students, John Burrell

Dissertations and Theses

The present study looked at the error correction preferences of 172 adult Latino ESL students. It was a modified replication of a study which looked at the error correction preferences of Japanese university students. A questionnaire was used to gather the data. The questionnaire measured the participants' general preferences for error correction, attitudes towards peer correction, the desired frequency of correction in five aspects of language and preferences for specific types or methods of error correction.

The study found a very positive attitude towards error correction by the teacher. There was a positive attitude towards peer correction, but only from …

The Influence Of Cultural Backgrounds On The Interpretations Of Literature Texts Used In The Esl Classroom, Barbara Jostrom Gates

Dissertations and Theses

This study was a detailed descriptive investigation into the different interpretations and perceptions that are evoked by readers of United States literature, based on their cultural backgrounds and experience. Grounded in research that advocates for the convergence of culture and literature in the language classroom and a research design based on reader-response theory, this study explored the responses of two groups of students from the University of Portland: international students, the majority of whom were English as a Second Language (ESL), and U.S. citizens, all of whom were native speakers of American English.

Through a reader-response style questionnaire modeled after …

A Comparison Of The Child Directed Speech Of Traditional Dads With That Of Stay-At-Home Dads, Judith Nancarrow Barr

Dissertations and Theses

The speech that mothers use when addressing adults has consistently been shown to exhibit modifications when the conversation partner is their language-learning child. Fathers adopt similar changes in the structural linguistic aspects of their Child Directed Speech (CDS), but their patterns of discourse remain more of a challenge for the child. This contrast in parental language is thought to be beneficial to the language-learning child: a mother's language focuses on the child as a conversation partner, whilst a father's more demanding language is considered a "Bridge" between the mother's and that of adults in the outside world. With family roles …

Chinese Numeratives And The Mass/Count Distinction, David Goodman

Dissertations and Theses

This study investigates the mass/count distinction for lexical nouns, and how this is formalized morphosyntactically in language. English is one language in which a grammaticized mass/count distinction can be seen--though there are varying explanations regarding what this distinction actually signifies. Chinese, on the other hand, is a language which might appear to be missing a formalized mass/count distinction. However, I postulate that Mandarin Chinese does in fact have a syntactic-distributional diagnostic available for teasing apart mass nouns from count nouns.

The diagnostic that I propose for finding a mass/count distinction among lexical nouns in Mandarin lies in the distribution of …

Innovation In The Writing Center: A Diffusion Study, Talisman Kate Benton Saunders

Dissertations and Theses

An innovation is an idea, object, or practice that is perceived by a certain group as being new. To study the process by which an innovation is introduced to a certain target group and the results of the effort to convince the group to adopt the innovation is to study the diffusion of that innovation. This often involves examination of the social events and communication patterns among and between the stakeholders, change agents, and target group(s). The diffusion model is relevant and useful to many disciplines. It has many practical uses and applications for policymakers in that it offers the …