Discourse and Text Linguistics Commons^™

“Investment In Inertia”: Language Ideologies Of Instructors And Students Of Spanish As A Heritage Language, Michael E. Rolland

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

When the Spanish-language skills of heritage Spanish learners are disparaged in an academic environment, these learners are at high risk of abandoning further study of Spanish and shifting entirely to English. This dissertation uses mixed qualitative and quantitative research methods, including thematic and discourse analysis, to investigate the language ideologies of instructors and students of Spanish as a heritage language (SHL) and the effects of those ideologies on students’ experiences in SHL college courses. It builds on earlier research on language ideologies in the post-secondary heritage language context (e.g., Carreira, 2011; Loza, 2017; Valdés et al., 2003). I find that …

Stand-Up Comedy Visualized, Berna Yenidogan

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Stand-up comedy has become an increasingly popular form of comedy in the recent years and comedians reach audiences beyond the halls they are performing through streaming services, podcasts and social media. While comedic performances are typically judged by how 'funny' they are, which could be proxied by the frequency and intensity of laughs through the performance, comedians also explore untapped social issues and provoke conversation, especially in this age where interaction with artists goes beyond their act. It is easy to see commonalities in the topics addressed in comedians’ work such as relationships, race and politics.This project provides an interactive …

La Descortesía En Los Comentarios Digitales De La Prensa Deportiva. El Tenis, Mucho Más Que Un Juego, David Sánchez-Jiménez

Publications and Research

Comments on sports news published on the digital platforms of newspapers have turned these spaces into forums for debate in which homogeneous social communities are established. The aim of this research is to find out how the participants of these platforms interact in the sports press and what impoliteness strategies they use when evaluating the text of the news and the comments of other users. For this purpose, a qualitative textual analysis of a corpus of 1,000 digital comments produced on the Australian Open 2022 final in four of the most widely distributed Spanish newspapers with the highest national circulation, …

“Local, But Intelligent”: Language Ideologies In The Informant Biographies Of The Linguistic Atlas Project, Nicholas A. Passarelli

Theses and Dissertations--Linguistics

This thesis argues for the relevance of the Linguistic Atlas Project (LAP) for studies of language ideologies, indexicality, and enregisterment. The LAP represents the largest dialect survey of North American English to date, offering an abundance of historical linguistic data for research in dialectology, linguistic geography, and variation over space and time. Additionally, the LAP also contains additional sources of sociolinguistic data, including informant biographies — documents written by fieldworkers at the conclusion of the LAP interview that summarize an informant’s demographic profile, as well as their personality, speech, and caliber as an interviewee. Rife with subjective judgments from the …

Organizing (Eternal) Identity And Identification: An Upward Glance Into Religious Institutions, Casey M. Stratton

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This dissertation disrupts at least two religious spaces: First, scholars religiously adhering to (social) scientific norms, and second, people identifying with religious organizations (i.e., churches). First, we begin constructing a theoretical lens using poststructural ideas offered by Foucault, Derrida, and Bakhtin to read and disrupt (religious) discourse. Second, we complicate organizational identification as a concept, deeming it fixed and fluid—a paradox within religious discourses that endorse Truth and Perfection. Here, we draw from the communication constitutes organization (CCO) approach. Third, we further curate the lens by applying poststructuralism, identification, and CCO in a specific context: The Church of Jesus Christ …

We Can Do This / Juntos Sí Podemos: A Critical Discourse Analysis Of Government-Sponsored Covid-19 Public Service Announcements (Psas) In English And Spanish, Katalina R. Peterson

Scripps Senior Theses

Communication inequities are known to negatively impact people from socioeconomically and linguistically disadvantaged backgrounds during public health crises (Gomez-Aguinaga et al., 2021). In the United States, Hispanics—especially those who speak Spanish—have been among the communities most disproportionately affected by COVID-19 (National Center for Health Statistics, 2022). The pandemic has underscored the importance of understanding the linguistic and discursive strategies implemented by institutions entrusted with disseminating public health information to reach diverse audiences, especially the most vulnerable. This paper analyzes the linguistic practices used to create public service announcements (PSA) produced in English and Spanish by health agencies at both the …

Conceptual Metaphor Usage In Glenn Youngkin’S 2021 Gubernatorial Campaign, Sara Rose Hotaling

Political Science & Geography Faculty Publications

In “Conceptual Metaphor in Everyday Language,” Lakoff and Johnson suggest that conceptual metaphors pervade everyday language and produce the reality of our world. Conceptual metaphors act similarly within the occupational register of political campaigns in that they both support and construct a set of beliefs that become the reality of politicians, political parties, and constituents. In this language research, the conceptual metaphors employed by Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin during his 2021 gubernatorial campaign were identified, analyzed, and categorized. The corpus of this research consists of two gubernatorial debates, three campaign speeches, and one television interview. An example of conceptual metaphor …

Lexico-Grammatical Analysis Of Translated Japanese Immigration Law, Kasumi Arciaga

Journal of English and Applied Linguistics

Legal language is a specialized language. However, it is not universal, although its uniqueness and specialty in every legal language are ubiquitous. The lexical and grammatical aspects of legal texts have not been the subject of much attention as there is an evident dearth of research on this aspect of the legal language. The present study is, therefore, the first study that has looked at lexical and grammatical features of the Japanese immigration law, which has been translated into English. The sum of 70,000 words in selected immigration acts, which were translated from 2020 to 2021, was used as data …

Figurative Language In Commencement Speeches: Speakers In The Entertainment And Business Industries, Yan-Ling Chang, Michael Tanangkingsing

Journal of English and Applied Linguistics

Figurative language is a commonly used strategy in interpersonal interaction. Although previous studies have explored the use of figurative language in various materials, its use in commencement speeches based on the speaker’s professional background has not been investigated. This study used 20 commencement speeches as material to examine the differences in the use of the figurative language of entertainers and business people invited to speak at commencement ceremonies. The results revealed that figurative language is pervasive in commencement speeches; the more frequently used figure of speech types were metaphor, repetition, personification, and parallelism. Moreover, speakers from the entertainment industry significantly …

Intertextual Discourse Research On Ip Film Language From The Perspective Of Chinese Teaching, Xiao Jiang

Chinese Language Teaching Methodology and Technology

Based on the theory of intertextual discourse, this paper makes a comparative analysis of the IP source texts, Chinese subtitles and English subtitles of IP films from the perspective of Chinese teaching. The research found that Chinese subtitles of IP films which compared with the source texts reconstructed the descending language of the characters, implanted popular contemporary language and culture, strengthened the language escalation of dramatic conflicts, and increased the sense of humor and entertainment of characters' language, so as to be suitable for Chinese teaching and cultural communication. The English subtitles of IP films deleted the cultural elements of …

A Study Of Entrainment In Speech As A Possible Predictor Of Perceived Trust, Mariana Graterol Fuenmayor

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This thesis explores the possibility of using features of speech as possible predictors of perceived trust. It specifically focuses on entrainment, the tendency of participants in a conversation to unconsciously adapt their manner of talking to become more or less similar to each other. We compile a corpus of interviews conducted in English, with different levels of formality and discussing different topics. With it, we distribute a set of surveys to assess raters’ judgment of the participants, focusing on whether they believe the interviewee is trusted by their conversational partner, and whether they find the interlocutors themselves trustworthy. We also …

Examining The Linguistic Ideology "Throaty Sounds Are Bad For Performers": The History Of Negative Attitudes Towards Glottal Stops And Laryngealization In English, Dayle M. Towarnicky

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This thesis analyzes explicit metadiscourse (Johnstone et al 2006) on throaty sounds, primarily focused on glottal segments and non-modal constricted voice quality in English. Authors contributing to this metadiscourse are argued to be an offshoot of the speech chain network which valorized and circulated the English accent known as RP or Received Pronunciation, studied by Agha (2003). The evaluated texts center on English-speaking elocution, singing training, voice, speech, and voice care. The analysis shows glottal and guttural articulations are framed negatively and often discouraged by appeals to both health and aesthetics. Many authors in this performance speech chain network …

Let’S Talk: The Dual Process Model Of Supportive Communication In Peers, Erica Marie Szkody

Theses and Dissertations

Supportive messages occur within most relationships. Researchers have found strong relationships between social support and various physical and psychological health outcomes, but the specific mechanisms at work have yet to be fully explored. Many factors contribute to whether a supportive interaction is processed as helpful or supportive by the recipient including relational factors, message content, past experiences, etc. For peer dyads, the context and supportive messages individuals provide their peer may inhibit or contribute to their perception of their peer’s supportive behavior. The current study examined the impact of contextual factors (such as family communication patterns and relationship quality) on …

Science Education Research On Student To Student Discourse: A Literature Review With An Applied Linguistics Lens, Abbee A. Mortensen

University Honors Theses

Science education researchers have increasingly been using discourse analysis to research small group discussion while doing course related activities. This literature review examined studies from that discourse community to see what analysis methods were used and if they connected to applied linguistics theories or methods. Two of the most common discourse analysis frameworks used were Toulmin's Argument Pattern and grounded coding schemes that looked at the design and specific contents of the discourse. Studies covered will also include education scholars using theories of conversation analysis and normative pragmatics to make a more explicit connection to applied linguistics. Orienting and drawing …

An Investigation Of The Rhetorical And Representational Aspects Of Bleed Green, Jacob A. Segura

The Kennesaw Journal of Undergraduate Research

This essay is a retroactive examination of a personal narrative titled Bleed Green, a story that characterizes my experience working for the supermarket Publix. I performed Bleed Green in front of an audience at the KSU Tellers' Spring 2021 Showcase. This essay serves both to analyze the rhetorical methods of my story and to precede the script of the performance, which accompanies this essay. In the essay, I contextualize the story through the lens of three widely underutilized concepts from various disciplines: framing, foregrounding and backgrounding, and representation and agency. Storytellers often critically analyze their works, particularly with the …

El Metadiscurso En La Escritura Académica: Singularidades E Investigaciones En Lengua Española, David Sánchez-Jiménez

Publications and Research

Dentro de la disciplina lingüística de la Pragmática, el estudio del metadiscurso ha sido uno de los temas más investigados en el mundo anglosajón en las últimas décadas. Este fenómeno se refiere al componente del discurso que sirve para hablar del discurso sin añadir significado proposicional. El metadiscurso facilita la comunicación y juega un rol central en el discurso para transmitir las ideas del autor y hacer partícipes a los lectores de estas ideas en su texto de manera efectiva, guiando al lector en la debida interpretación del texto, aumentando su legibilidad y permitiendo construir una relación más cercana con …

Misinformation And Disinformation: Detecting Fakes With The Eye And Ai, Victoria Rubin

Data and Test Instruments

How do we detect, deter, and prevent the spread of mis- and disinformationwith the human eye and AI? How does theory inform the practice, and how do theevidence-based research and best practices in lie-catching and truth-seekingprofessions—inform AI? The book looks into well-established human practicessuch as the routines and processes used in detective work, journalism, and scientificinquiry, and how they contribute toward innovative AI solutions. The book explainsthe principles, inner workings, and recent evolution of five types of state-of-the-artAI technologies suitable for curtailing the spread of mis- and disinformation:automated deception detectors, clickbait detectors, satirical fake detectors, rumordebunkers, and computational fact-checking tools.

Posicionamiento Y Dialogicidad En La Escritura Académica Y Profesional, David Sánchez-Jiménez, Paulina Meza

Publications and Research

Esta investigación ofrece una perspectiva intercultural de los aspectos del posicionamiento y la dialogicidad en la producción de textos escritos en español y en inglés tanto por estudiantes universitarios de grado como graduados, y de autores expertos en sus respectivas disciplinas. Los conceptos de posicionamiento y dialogicidad son dos componentes esenciales de los textos académicos y profesionales, pues contribuyen a expresar la identidad, el punto de vista y la pertenencia social del autor a una determinada comunidad discursiva, a partir de los cuales se logra la credibilidad de sus juicios y la adhesión a sus ideas en la interacción discursiva …

Variación Lingüística De La Cortesía Verbal En El Discurso Académico Escrito: Atenuación E Intensificación De La Voz Del Autor En La Evaluación De Las Fuentes, David Sánchez-Jiménez

Publications and Research

Resumen

Como ocurre con la mayor parte de los elementos pragmáticos, la cortesía verbal cumple una función esencial en la elusión de los efectos no deseados de los actos amenazadores de la imagen, lo cual permite que se establezca una comunicación eficaz en la interpretación de los textos. Con el fin de facilitar esta labor, el escritor emplea una serie de recursos retóricos interpersonales −asociados con la expresión de la voz del autor− que se utilizan para proyectar una imagen social determinada del emisor del escrito y, al mismo tiempo, establecer un diálogo eficaz con su audiencia. En el análisis …

“They’Re Plotting Against Us”: Public Narratives Utilised By Kenyan Community-Based Organisations Advocating For Land Rights, Billian Khalayi Otundo, Anne Nangulu

Journal of the Language Association of Eastern Africa

The narratives of Community-Based Organisations (CBOs) are significant for linguistic analysis as they provide natural data in highly emotional public discourses. In Kenya, any topic or discourse on land injustice is a highly emotive venture. In the same vein, public narratives are relevant to provide evidence for evaluations of language choice, power, and authority, as well as the linguistic communication of emotion. In this respect, emotion-provoking narratives are highly important phenomena that are hardly ever absent in the public discourse of CBOs advocating for land rights. Within the framing rhetoric of social movements, we explore how these groups frame land …

Code-Switching And Advising In Multilingual African Situations: An Analysis Of Radio Phone-In Programmes In Kenya And Cameroon, Billian Khalayi Otundo, Susanne Mühleisen

Journal of the Language Association of Eastern Africa

Radio phone-in programmes are relevant for linguistic analysis in multilingual contexts, like Kenya and Cameroon, because they provide relatively natural data in expert-user and user-user contexts in an often emotional interactive environment. Any topic on relationships is an emotive undertaking in any society given the varied cultural disparities. In radio phone-in programmes, speech activities such as advice-giving and advice-receiving are also performed symmetrically or asymmetrically. In this media format, code-switching is a highly important phenomenon that is an expected and unconscious part of the linguistic behaviour of multilingual speakers. Switches between languages are highly relevant since they provide evidence for …

The Electrophysiological Correlates Of Text Integration And Direct Vs. Indirect Articles: A Centralized And Lateralized Examination, Deanna C. Hall

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

As we read, we develop mental models of the discourse content called situation models. Situation models are integral to how we keep track of information, and to do so in an ongoing event incoming information needs to be integrated into the model or discarded. The type of information being presented, and its relation to prior data, impacts how that new information is processed. The current research examined discourse passages containing concepts that were either previously mentioned (match), mentioned with a general term (general category), unmentioned in lieu of another concept (mismatch), or completely unmentioned previously (indeterminate), and examined how these …

Doing Corpus Pragmatics: Variations In Speech Acts Performed In Conversations Occurring Naturally In Academic Contexts, Jacob Philip Rigal

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

No abstract provided.

Text Contention Behind Sharia Supervisory Board Reports: A Critical Discourse Analysis, Ari Ermawati, M Nur A Birton, Irfan Tarmizi, Muhammad Muttaqin

Jurnal Akuntansi dan Keuangan Indonesia

Sharia Supervisory Board Reports (SSBRs) have an interest in convincing the public that entities supervised by a Sharia Supervisory Board (SSB) are sharia-compliant and reflective of Good Corporate Governance (GCG) practices. Failure in public convincing will be detrimental to Islamic banks’ reputation as well as the SSB’s image and credibility. This study aimed to critically assess how the SSB produces reports as texts to persuade the public using Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA). We analyzed four SSBRs from two Islamic Commercial Banks (ICBs) and two Islamic Business Units (IBUs) owned by other ICBs as well as interviews for data triangulation. We …

Latin American Identities And The American Demonym, Maia S. Schofield

Undergraduate Distinction Papers

Current literature addresses the question of Latin American identity largely in terms of assimilation, language proficiency, generation of immigrant, and political participation, while the American demonym remains an understudied topic. ‘America’ has been popularized in its usage to refer only to the United States and ‘American’ to its nationals. Although Latin Americans are natives of the Americas, they are rarely considered ‘American’. This study examines factors that influence the identity of Latin Americans living in the United States and focuses primarily on the connection between identity and the understanding of ‘America’. To examine this relationship, a questionnaire, offered in Spanish …

Black Codes Re-Envisioned: The Dred Scott Majority Opinion As An Antiblack Performative Speech Act., Tiffany Dillard-Knox

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation is a discursive analysis of the decision in the Dred Scott v Sandford, 1857 case written by Chief Justice Roger Taney. It begins with an overview of the literature on performative speech acts, focusing on the aspects of performatives that relate to Louis Miron and Jonathan Xavier Inda’s thesis that race is a performative speech act. Breaking from their use of race as the analytic, this analysis is situated within a black/nonblack paradigm. This provides a framework that focuses on the unique ways in which the discourse of the text enacts, accumulates and renders blackness fungible. The …

Book Review: Intercultural Perspectives On Research Writing, Edited By Pilar Mur-Dueñas And Jolanta Šinkūnienė (Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins, 2018), David Sánchez-Jiménez

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

Japanese-English Code-Switching By Postwar Speakers In Contemporary America, Andre John Shepherd

Dissertations and Theses

In her examination of Japanese-English bilingualism in Toronto, Nishimura (1995b) demonstrated that second-generation Japanese-Canadians varied their speech dependent on the audience they were addressing. According to her, the Japanese-Canadians spoke primarily in English to fellow second-generation speakers, while maintaining conversations in Japanese with those who had spent their formative years in Japan. However, when addressing audiences composed of both groups, they switched back and forth evenly between the two languages.

Following research done by Woolard (1989) on the effects of societal influences on language, the state of the Japanese-Canadians can be related to the breakup of the ethnic enclaves in …

The Discourse/Pragmatic Functions Of Japanese Okkē, Peter Fodor

Dissertations and Theses

Okay is one of the most commonly used words in the English language. It is also one of the most commonly borrowed English-origin loanwords across all of the world's languages. Although there is a wealth of research on the communicative functions of English okay, there is comparatively little research on the many borrowings of the word in various other languages. In order to address this gap in the literature, this study explores the differences in discourse/pragmatic function between the English word okay, and the Japanese borrowing of the word, okkē.

Extensive research in discourse analysis, pragmatics, and …

Exploring The Personality Of Virtual Tutors In Conversational Foreign Language Practice, Johanna Dobbriner, Cathy Ennis, Robert J. Ross

Conference papers

Fluid interaction between virtual agents and humans requires the understanding of many issues of conversational pragmatics. One such issue is the interaction between communication strategy and personality. As a step towards developing models of personality driven pragmatics policies, in this paper, we present our initial experiment to explore differences in user interaction with two contrasting avatar personalities. Each user saw a single personality in a video-call setting and gave feedback on the interaction. Our expectations, that a more extroverted outgoing positive personality would be a more successful tutor, were only partially confirmed. While this personality did induce longer conversations in …