This thesis examines recommendation dialogue, in the context of dialogue strategy design for conversational recommender systems. The purpose of a recommender system is to produce personalized recommendations of potentially useful items from a large space of possible options. In a conversational recommender system, this task is approached by utilizing natural language recommendation dialogue for detecting user preferences, as well as for providing recommendations. The fundamental idea of a conversational recommender system is that it relies on dialogue sessions to detect, continuously update, and utilize the user's preferences in order to predict potential interest in domain items modeled in a system. Designing the dialogue strategy management is thus one of the most important tasks for such systems. Based on empirical studies as well as design and implementation of conversational recommender systems, a behavior-based dialogue model called bcorn is presented. bcorn is based on three constructs, which are presented in the thesis. It utilizes a user preference modeling framework (preflets) that supports and utilizes natural language dialogue, and allows for descriptive, comparative, and superlative preference statements, in various situations. Another component of bcorn is its message-passing formalism, pcql, which is a notation used when describing preferential and factual statements and requests. bcorn is designed to be a generic recommendation dialogue strategy with conventional, information-providing, and recommendation capabilities, that each describes a natural chunk of a recommender agent's dialogue strategy, modeled in dialogue behavior diagrams that are run in parallel to give rise to coherent, flexible, and effective dialogue in conversational recommender systems. Three empirical studies have been carried out in order to explore the problem space of recommendation dialogue, and to verify the solutions put forward in this work. Study I is a corpus study in the domain of movie recommendations. The result of the study is a characterization of recommendation dialogue, and forms a base for a first prototype implementation of a human-computer recommendation dialogue control strategy. Study II is an end-user evaluation of the acorn system that implements the dialogue control strategy and results in a verification of the effectiveness and usability of the dialogue strategy. There are also implications that influence the refinement of the model that are used in the bcorn dialogue strategy model. Study III is an overhearer evaluation of a functional conversational recommender system called CoreSong, which implements the bcorn model. The result of the study is indicative of the soundness of the behavior-based approach to conversational recommender system design, as well as the informativeness, naturalness, and coherence of the individual bcorn dialogue behaviors. / I denna avhandling undersöks rekommendationsdialog med avseende på utformningen av dialogstrategier f¨or konverserande rekommendationssystem. Syftet med ett rekommendationssystem är att generera personaliserade rekommendationer utifrån potentiellt användbara domänobjekt i stora informationsrymder. I ett konverserande rekommendationssystem angrips detta problem genom att utnyttja naturligt språkk och dialog för att modellera användarpreferenser, liksom för att ge rekommendationer. Grundidén med konverserande rekommendationssystem är att utnyttja dialogsessioner för att upptäcka, uppdatera och utnyttja en användares preferenser för att förutsäga användarens intresse för domänobjekten som modelleras i ett system. Utformningen av dialogstrategihantering är därför en av de viktigaste uppgifterna för sådana system. Baserat på empiriska studier, liksom på utformning och implementering av konverserande rekommendationssystem, presenteras en beteendebaserad dialogmodell som kallas bcorn. bcorns bas utgörs av tre konstruktioner, vilka alla presenteras i denna avhandling. bcorn utnyttjar ett preferensmodelleringsramverk (preflets) som stöder och anv¨ander sig av naturligt språk i dialog och tillåter deskriptiva, komparativa och superlativa preferensuttryck i olika situationer. Den andra komponenten i bcorn är dess interna meddelande-formalism pcql, som är en notation som kan beskriva preferens- och faktiska påståenden och frågor. bcorn är utformat som en generell rekommendationshanteringsstrategi med konventionella, informationsgivande och rekommenderande förmågor, som var och en beskriver naturliga delar av en rekommendationsagents dialogstrategi. Dessa delar modelleras i dialogbeteendediagram som exekveras parallellt för att ge upphov till koherent, flexibel och effektiv dialog i konverserande rekommendationssystem. Tre empiriska studier har utförts för att utforska problemkomplexet som utgör rekommendationsdialog och för att verifiera de lösningar som tagits fram inom ramen för detta arbete. Studie I är en korpusstudie i filmrekommendationsdomänen. Studien resulterar i en karakteristik av rekommendationsdialog, och utgör basen för en första prototyp av dialoghanteringsstrategi för rekommendationsdialog mellan människa och dator. Studie II är en slutanvändarutvärdering av systemet acorn som implementerar denna dialoghanteringsstrategi och resulterar i en verifiering av effektivitet och användbarhet av strategin. Studien resulterar också i implikationer som påverkar utformningen av den modell som används i bcorn. Studie III är en medhörningsutvärdering av det funktionella konverserande rekommendationssystemet CoreSong, som implementerar bcorn-modellen. Resultatet av studien indikerar att det beteendebaserade angreppssättet är funktionellt och att de olika dialogbeteendena i bcorn ger upphov till h¨og informationskvalitet, naturlighet och koherens i rekommendationsdialog.

In the field of second language acquisition (SLA), the study abroad context (SA) has gained attention as a site that offers the potential of significant second language (L2) development due to high amounts of input and interaction opportunities compared to at home foreign language (AH) and domestic immersion (IM) contexts (Pérez-Vidal, 2014). In previous research, the SA context has been a country where the L2 is the local language (e.g., English in the United Kingdom). However, with the increase of student mobility programs across Europe, such as ERASMUS, and the status of English as an International Language, another study abroad context is available, one where students can take English-medium classes and use English as a lingua franca in a country where English is not the local language (e.g., Germany, Poland, Spain). In the current study, this new context is operationalized as English as a lingua franca study abroad (ELFSA), the effects of which have received very little attention in SLA to date. By providing an alternative SA context through English medium of instruction on-campus, and English as an international language through off-campus interactions, this new context might bring further insights into the SA phenomenon. Motivated by this gap in the literature, the current longitudinal study aims to investigate the differentiated effects of the SA, ELFSA, and AH contexts on the linguistic development of Turkish undergraduates whose L2 is English. Given the multilingual nature of the ERASMUS context, this study also examines the contextual influences on participants’ perceptions towards multilingualism from a Perceived Positive Language Interaction (PPLI) perspective (Thompson, 2013). The participants of the study were 50 third year Turkish undergraduates, 33 of whom undertook a 16-week ERASMUS exchange semester in Spring 2016. Following a quasi-experimental mixed-methods pretest-posttest design, data were collected via a one-minute spoken and 15-minute written production test to determine linguistic complexity, accuracy, and fluency gains; an Elicited Oral Imitation Test (EIT, Ortega et al., 1999) to measure pre-departure proficiency; a monthly online Language Interaction Questionnaire to investigate the type and amount of language contact; and a dichotomous questionnaire to learn about participants’ perceptions towards multilingualism within PPLI. For triangulation purposes, qualitative data were collected via several open-ended items in the questionnaires and semi-structured interviews. The results of the quantitative and qualitative analysis indicated that the SA and ELFSA contexts were beneficial for English development on most of the measures, yet the former had certain issues for the participants pertaining to the dominant variety and features of spoken English (e.g., weak forms, connected speech, speech rate). The ELFSA was reported to be more multilingual as compared to the SA, also paving the way for seeing further Perceived Positive Language Interaction (Thompson, 2013) among the additional languages that their participants knew. The major difference between the two was described to be the ELFSA participants’ developing an ELF identity towards using English as an L2, as they tended to prioritize fluency over accuracy throughout their exchange semester. The results of the quantitative analysis indicated that the AH group had significantly more gains on written fluency than the two abroad groups. Also, time was found to be a significant factor for lexical development regardless of group differences. In terms of oral gains, main effects of time indicated that the participants as a whole group had significantly different means over time on speech rate and breakdown fluency, the inspection of which showed that the ELFSA had the highest mean differences. As for oral accuracy and lexical complexity, an interaction effect between time and context group was found to approach significance, indicating that both sojourn groups had mean gains on the former, while only the ELFSA had higher mean scores in the posttest for the latter measure. Finally, the data from the semi-structured interviews provided a holistic picture of the interplay between context and development in English. The major finding of the study, thus, indicated that the SA may not be the sole provider for intense L2 input to improve English during a semester abroad; the ELFSA appeared to be equally as beneficial as the SA in terms of linguistic development with a bonus of creating a linguistic identity of an ELF speaker for language learners. The study also provided several empirical and pedagogical implications for those interested in the stay abroad and its influences on L2 development.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-26T18:16:09Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Ines P Luz.pdf: 2544958 bytes, checksum: 2ca05868a11fb4a8d4906a5c488841b1 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2007-05-14 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / The culture of the audiovisual has since 1980 been expanding as a circulating space for a set of old and new creative expressions. This movement promotes significant changes in the practices within the systems of signs and means, originating new formats whose compositions unveil the convergence of languages, regardless of the means which originate them and where they are inserted in. We start out from the hypothesis that the current Brazilian cinema is part of the audiovisual culture dynamics as a productive sphere where the hybridity of techniques and languages is predominant and, as a whole, the movement of feature films is not restricted to movie theater rooms, but rather flows through the space as a net, along with other audiovisual formats. The corpus of the research is formed by a few films made in Brazil between 1994/2004, resulting from the interaction cinema/TV and theater, and our objective was to survey the updating process of those expressions in their language compositions. Our method of analysis originates from the interlacing of the theories of I. Lotman (1996-1969), Jacques Aumont (2003, 2004), Noel Burch (1969), Gilles Deleuze (1990), M. McLuhan (1911-1980) and Umberto Eco (1987). Some of them point to languages as productions that are born from dialectical languages between the technical development and the cultural universe that shelters them, promoting the advances and ruptures of the systems of signs, from the aesthetics perspective and the knowledge production. Our research starts with some films shot by modern moviemakers, Orson Welles and Jean-Luc Godard, where we identify a thinking and a method on language interaction. We see how present they are in some contemporary formats created for the circulation in the TV medium. In the composition assessment of the film language of our corpus, we saw that they recreate the uniqueness of the systems of signs that originate them, mingling visual and audio references while the word is treated as a body where multiple expressions of literature, TV, comics, theater and songs are embedded. When making their sets visible, the films convey the creative process and one of the contemporary culture and thought perceptions, a writing that expands the dialogic thinking of cultural practices. The audiovisual formats configured by TV/cinema media to circulate in the network spaces bring in the pragmatic expression of the language, evidencing its extreme importance for the contemporary culture / A cultura do audiovisual desde 1980, tem se ampliado como espaço de circulação de um conjunto de expressões criativas antigas e novas. Esse movimento promove mudanças significativas nas práticas dentro dos sistemas de signos e meios, originando alguns formatos cujas composições revelam a convergência das linguagens, independente dos meios nos quais elas se originaram e estão inseridas. Partimos da hipótese de que o cinema brasileiro contemporâneo faz parte da dinâmica da cultura do audiovisual como uma esfera produtiva onde a hibridez de técnicas e linguagens é predominante, e no geral, o movimento dos filmes não se reduz às salas de cinema, mas passa pelo espaço em rede, junto com outros formatos audiovisuais. O corpus da pesquisa é constituído por alguns filmes produzidos no Brasil entre 1994/2004, resultados da interação cinema/TV e teatro e o nosso objetivo foi investigar o processo de atualização dessas expressões em suas composições de linguagens. O nosso método de análise tem origem no entrelaçamento de teorias de I. Lotman (1996-1969), Jacques Aumont (2003, 2004) Noel Burch (1969) Gilles Deleuze (1990), M. McLuhan (1980:220) e Umberto Eco (1987). Algumas delas apontam para as linguagens como produções que nascem das relações dialéticas entre o desenvolvimento técnico e o universo cultural que as abriga, promovendo os avanços e rupturas dos sistemas de signos, do ponto de vista estético e de produção de conhecimento. Nossa investigação tem início com alguns filmes dos cineastas modernos, Orson Welles e Jean-Luc Godard, onde localizamos um pensamento e um método sobre a interação de linguagens. Vimos como eles se encontram presentes em alguns formatos contemporâneos criados para circulação no médium TV. Na análise da composição das linguagens dos filmes do nosso corpus, vimos que elas recriam as singularidades dos sistemas de signos que lhes deram origem, misturam referências visuais e de áudio, e a palavra é tratada como um corpo onde se encontram embutidas várias expressões: literatura, TV, história em quadrinhos, teatro e canção. Ao fazer visível o conjunto delas, os filmes comunicam o processo criativo e uma das percepções e pensamento da cultura contemporânea, uma escritura que amplia o pensar dialógico das práticas culturais. Os formatos audiovisuais, configurados pelas mídias TV/cinema para circular nos espaços das redes, trazem a dimensão pragmática da linguagem, evidenciando a sua extrema relevância na cultura contempo

Univ., Diss.--Bern, 2005.

The following MA thesis is concerned with the interaction among students of Czech as a foreign language in classes of low proficiency and working in pairs. It mainly concentrates on the process of overcoming obstacles that arise during communication. The objective of the thesis is to examine the students' choice of communication strategies and describe the process of negotiation of meaning. In order to achieve that, an analysis of transcribed recordings of interactions during a language lesson was made. During the lesson students had to complete two two-way tasks, which should offer as many opportunities to negotiate meaning as possible. Keywords: Czech as a foreign language, interaction, negotiation of meaning, communication strategies, pair work

[pt] O livro didático impresso é usado diariamente em escolas de todo o mundo mesmo com o surgimento do livro didático eletrônico. Isso se mantêm apesar de pesquisas que anteciparam a sua morte. O designer está presente na realização de livros didáticos, atuando junto a outros agentes, principalmente na criação de uma interface entre o autor e o leitor. O designer se torna, portanto, um agente mediador e catalisador da leitura na produção de sentidos do livro. Na Colômbia, o Projeto de Educação Rural (PER) desenvolveu conteúdo didático para a educação de crianças da zona rural, para os suportes livros didáticos impressos e digitais. Nesta dissertação, procura-se analisar o design gráfico utilizado no suporte impresso produzido para o segmento educação fundamental. Parte-se do pressuposto de que é incompatível a inter-relação entre o conteúdo imagético e os projetos gráficos adotados, pois eles desconsideram as competência e habilidades da população infantil da zona rural existentes e demandadas pelo segmento educação fundamental ao estabelecerem parâmetros para a inserção de elementos imagéticos e para a inter-relação entre esses elementos e o conteúdo verbal. Parte-se do pressuposto também que os professores, que deveriam atuar como agentes mediadores e catalisadores da leitura, não têm desenvolvidas, em suas formações, habilidades e competências para entender o design como interface entre o conteúdo e a criança. Entende-se que os problemas interferem no ensino-aprendizagem e aumentam o hiato entre a Educação na zona rural e na zona urbana da Colômbia. Visa-se assim contribuir para a diminuição da discriminação e exclusão das comunidades da zona rural, a partir da reflexão sobre os lugares do design gráfico no livro didático destinado a comunidades específicas. / [en] The printed textbook is used daily in schools around the world even with the emergence of the electronic textbook. That they remain despite research that anticipated his death. The designer is present in making textbooks, working with other agents, especially in creating an interface between the author and the reader. The designer becomes therefore a mediator agent and a catalyst in the reading of the production of sense of the book. In Colombia, the Rural Education Project (PER) developed educational content for the education of rural children to the media printed and digital textbooks. This dissertation seeks to analyze the graphic design used in both digital format and in print produced for the primary education sector. This is on the assumption that the interrelationship between the imagistic content is incompatible, the graphic designs adopted disregard the competence and skills of the child population of existing rural and demanded by the education segment essential to establish parameters for the inclusion of pictorial elements and to the interrelationship between these elements and the verbal content. This is on the assumption also that teachers, who should act as mediators and catalysts agents of reading, have not developed in their training, skills and expertise to understand the design as an interface between the content and the child. It is understood that the problems occur in both media, which compromises the teaching-learning and increases the gap between education in rural and urban area of Colombia. The aim is to contribute to the reduction of discrimination and exclusion of communities and gender of the countryside, from the reflection about the places of the graphic design in the textbook aimed at specific communities.

L'école primaire voit se développer, depuis une quinzaine d'années en France, des pratiques de débat dit philosophique, dont il s'agit de cerner l'identité, dans une approche didactique. Celle-ci permet de comprendre si elles se construisent en tant que genre disciplinaire ou bien au contraire si elles s'affranchissent de toute dimension disciplinaire. Un enjeu est de déterminer si la construction sociale de ces pratiques les inscrit dans l'organisation de l'école selon des disciplines ou bien si elle participe au contraire de sa mise en question. C'est au travers de l'éclairage de leur contexte d'émergence, des sources auxquelles elles se réfèrent, de l'examen de leurs contenus et de leurs frontières, que l'étude est menée et dans les différents espaces où elles se déploient, l'espace des recommandations et l'espace des pratiques de classe. Il ressort de l'exploration des formalisations qu'en proposent leurs promoteurs, des discours d'enseignants qui les mettent en place et des discours en situation de classe et d'interactions langagières, que majoritairement ces pratiques ne s'enracinent pas dans une discipline scolaire, existante, renouvelée ou à constituer et qu'elles interrogent sur la nature du genre pratiqué et des apprentissages visés. Elles révèlent plutôt une construction adisciplinaire de l'objet et, sur certains aspects, ascolaire et ne semblent pas permettre d'identifier la fabrique d'un "enseignable". / Different practices of termed philosophical debates have been developing in French primary schools for about fifteen years, whose identity must be outlined, with a didactic analysis. The latter enables us to understand whether they build up as disciplinary type or if they avoid all disciplinary dimension. One stake is to determine if the social construction of these practices puts them in the school organization according to disciplines or whether, on the contrary, they contribute to its questioning. The sudy is led through clarifying their context of emergence, the sources they refer to, by examining their contents and boundaries, as well as the different areas where they take place, that is recommendations and classroom practices. The exploration of proposals made by their exponents, the discourses of the teachers who implement them and classroom situations as well as language interaction, show that these practices do not mainly entrench in a school discipline that is existing, renewed or to be constituted.They elicit speculation about the nature of the type and the learning targeted. They show a non-disciplinary and, in some aspects, out-of-school type and they do not seem to be able to identify the making of a "teaching object".

Les besoins croissants en formation et en entrainement au travail d’équipe ont motivé l’utilisationd’Environnements de réalité Virtuelle Collaboratifs de Formation (EVCF) qui permettent aux utilisateurs de travailler avec des agents autonomes pour réaliser une activité collective. L’idée directrice est que la coordination efficace entre les membres d’une équipe améliore la productivité et réduit les erreurs individuelles et collectives. Cette thèse traite de la mise en place et du maintien de la coordination au sein d’une équipe de travail composée d’agents et d’humains interagissant dans un EVCF.L’objectif de ces recherches est de doter les agents virtuels de comportements conversationnels permettant la coopération entre agents et avec l’utilisateur dans le but de réaliser un but commun.Nous proposons une architecture d’agents Collaboratifs et Conversationnels, dérivée de l’architecture Belief-Desire-Intention (C2-BDI), qui gère uniformément les comportements délibératifs et conversationnels comme deux comportements dirigés vers les buts de l’activité collective. Nous proposons un modèle intégré de la coordination fondé sur l’approche des modèles mentaux partagés, afin d’établir la coordination au sein de l’équipe de travail composée d’humains et d’agents. Nous soutenons que les interactions en langage naturel entre les membres d’une équipe modifient les modèles mentaux individuels et partagés des participants. Enfin, nous décrivons comment les agents mettent en place et maintiennent la coordination au sein de l’équipe par le biais de conversations en langage naturel. Afin d’établir un couplage fort entre la prise de décision et le comportement conversationnel collaboratif d’un agent, nous proposons tout d’abord une approche fondée sur la modélisation sémantique des activités humaines et de l’environnement virtuel via le modèle mascaret puis, dans un second temps, une modélisation du contexte basée sur l’approche Information State. Ces représentations permettent de traiter de manière unifiée les connaissances sémantiques des agents sur l’activité collective et sur l’environnement virtuel ainsi que des informations qu’ils échangent lors de dialogues.Ces informations sont utilisées par les agents pour la génération et la compréhension du langage naturel multipartite. L’approche Information State nous permet de doter les agents C2BDI de capacités communicatives leur permettant de s’engager pro-activement dans des interactions en langue naturelle en vue de coordonner efficacement leur activité avec les autres membres de l’équipe. De plus, nous définissons les protocoles conversationnels collaboratifs favorisant la coordination entre les membres de l’équipe. Enfin, nous proposons dans cette thèse un mécanisme de prise de décision s’inspirant de l’approche BDI qui lie les comportements de délibération et de conversation des agents. Nous avons mis en oeuvre notre architecture dans trois différents scénarios se déroulant dans des EVCF. Nous montrons que les comportements conversationnels collaboratifs multipartites des agents C2BDI facilitent la coordination effective de l’utilisateur avec les autres membres de l’équipe lors de la réalisation d’une tâche partagée. / Growing needs of educational and training requirements motivate the use of collaborative virtual environments for training (CVET) that allows human users to work together with autonomous agents to perform a collective activity. The vision is inspired by the fact that the effective coordination improves productivity, and reduces the individual and team errors. This work addresses the issue of establishing and maintaining the coordination in a mixed human-agent teamwork in the context of CVET. The objective of this research is to provide human-like conversational behavior of the virtual agents in order to cooperate with a user and other agents to achieve shared goals.We propose a belief-desire-intention (BDI) like Collaborative Conversational agent architecture(C2BDI) that treats both deliberative and conversational behaviors uniformly as guided by the goal-directed shared activity. We put forward an integrated model of coordination which is founded on the shared mental model based approaches to establish coordination in a human-agent teamwork. We argue that natural language interaction between team members can affect and modify the individual and shared mental models of the participants. Finally, we describe the cultivation of coordination in a mixed human-agent teamwork through natural language conversation. In order to establish the strong coupling between decision making and the collaborative conversational behavior of the agent, we propose first, the Mascaret based semantic modeling of human activities and the VE, and second, the information state based context model. This representation allows the treatment of semantic knowledge of the collaborative activity and virtual environment, and information exchanged during the dialogue conversation in a unified manner. This knowledge can be used by the agent for multiparty natural language processing (understanding and generation) in the context of the CEVT. To endow the communicative capabilities to C2BDI agent, we put forward the information state based approach for the natural language processing of the utterances. We define collaborative conversation protocols that ensure the coordination between team members. Finally, in this thesis, we propose a decision making mechanism, which is inspired by the BDI based approach and provides the interleaving between deliberation and conversational behavior of the agent. We have applied the proposed architecture to three different scenarios in the CVET. We found that the multiparty collaborative conversational behavior of C2BDI agent is more constructive and facilitates the user to effectively coordinate with other team members to perform a shared task.

Mluvčí typologicky odlišných jazyků volí různé strategie při popisu stejné události v závislosti na dostupných jazykově-specifických gramatických prostředcích. Tyto strategie se projevují např. různými způsoby konceptualizace událostních rámců bě- hem jazykového vyjádření, ale v nejazykové kognici. Jedním z jevů, které byly v této souvislosti zaznemány, jsou jazykově specifické způsoby gestikulace doprovázející mluvené popisy událostí, které reflektují (či manifestují) tělesně ukotvená konceptuál- ní schémata, na nichž naše vnímání událostí stojí. Tématem této práce je multimodální konstruování (construal) událostí v češtině a v angličtině. Konkrétně se práce zaměřuje na spojitosti mezi formálními rysy gest (způsob pohybu a jeho zakončení) a sémantické rysy, které konstituují tzv. aspektuální kontury událostí (konstruování časového a kvalitativního průběhu události). První část prezentovaného výzkumu tvoří analýza materiálu z českého a anglického multimodální korpusu. Oba použité korpusy obsahují nahrávky spontánních pro- jevů v interakcích zachycených během pracovních jednání v akademickém prostředí. Kvantitativní analýzy (metoda tzv. klasifikačních stromů a náhodných lesů) ukázala, že a) v angličtině je významným prediktorem výskytu gest s rysem ukončenosti aktion- sartová kategorie achievement...

O presente estudo analisa o contato linguístico alemão-português em três comunidades menonitas no sul do Brasil, bem como também o contato linguístico alemão-português-inglês em uma comunidade menonita localizada no estado de Goiás. Todos esses grupos são de origem anabatista (1525). Caracterizam-se, por isso, como étnico-religiosos. Mesmo com o passar dos vários séculos, eles mantêm ainda fortes laços de língua, igreja, família e herança sociocultural, formando assim colônias do tipo “ilhas linguísticas”, resultantes de um processo migratório transnacional. Em 1930, chega, ao sul do Brasil, o primeiro grupo de menonitas que, após um difícil período de colonização em Santa Catarina, migra para o Paraná e Rio Grande do Sul, onde funda as três comunidades selecionadas para este estudo: a comunidade menonita de Curitiba (PR), a Colônia Nova (RS) e a Colônia Witmarsum (PR). Nesses núcleos, instaurou-se - de modo geral - um trilinguismo, do qual fazem parte: o Hochdeutsch (alemão standard), usado para situações formais como a igreja e a escola; o Plautdietsch, uma variante do baixo-alemão empregada para situações informais do dia-a-dia; e o português, principalmente para o contato interétnico. O uso do Hochdeutsch na igreja foi, por décadas, praticamente exclusivo, ou seja, a religião constituiu um fator determinante tanto para a coesão da comunidade menonita, como também para a manutenção do Hochdeutsch. O outro grupo de menonitas, proveniente dos Estados Unidos e Canadá, mais conhecido como os Holdeman Menonitas, chegou a Rio Verde (Goiás) em 1968. Este grupo, por ser mais conservador, segue normas antigas, entre as quais: a ênfase particular no não-conformismo com o mundo, com vestimenta e com a forma de viver. As marcas mais evidentes deste comportamento são o uso de barba por todos os homens e o uso do véu, bem como de vestidos, por todas as mulheres membros da igreja. Esta comunidade, além do português, faz uso principalmente do inglês como língua de imigração. O Plautdietsch, portanto, é atualmente falado somente por algumas pessoas da geração mais idosa. Mesmo vivendo em comunidades mais isoladas, marcadas pela sua fé e religião e usufruindo de uma relativa autonomia, observam-se, em nossos dados, traços de influência característicos do novo meio. Com o contato crescente do alemão com o português, o uso do Plautdietsch e do Hochdeutsch deixou de ser exclusivo, tornando-se o uso do português uma constante em diversos contextos da comunidade, conforme mostra o estudo de Dück (2005). A complexidade da situação linguística observada nas comunidades em estudo levanta uma série de perguntas, sobretudo o papel que o Plautdietsch desempenha nas diferentes comunidades, a sua vitalidade face ao prestígio das línguas-teto (Dachsprachen) português e Hochdeutsch (ou inglês), bem como os fatores que poderiam levar a uma substituição de uma variedade pela outra. São objetivos deste estudo: a) identificar o papel do Plautdietsch em relação ao contexto, considerando as variáveis sociais presentes em cada comunidade e, as funções de vernáculo e de delimitador da identidade étnica dos menonitas, comumente atribuídas à variedade substandard; b) descrever o grau de manutenção e a vitalidade linguística do Plautdietsch em contato com as variedades standard do português, inglês e Hochdeutsch nas comunidades menonitas em estudo; c) comparar as atitudes dos falantes com seus usos linguísticos, identificando processos convergentes e divergentes subjacentes ao estágio atual de vitalidade ou perda da variedade substandard do Plautdietsch; d) descrever o grau de substituição das línguas-teto Hochdeutsch e inglês pelo português (Dachpsrachenwechsel); e) analisar o que a escolha da(s) variedade(s) revela sobre a organização e a coesão étnico-religiosa da comunidade. Para responder a essas questões, este estudo orienta-se pelo modelo da dialetologia pluridimensional e relacional/contatual como ciência ampla da variação, que combina a dialetologia areal com a sociolinguística. Por meio desse modelo, busca-se verificar em que pontos e em que dimensões e parâmetros ocorre determinada variante ou comportamento. A presente pesquisa distingue-se de estudos sociolinguísticos monopontuais, centrados em uma comunidade bilíngue, por comparar contextos diferentes e fatores condicionadores diversos em uma rede de quatro pontos, localizados em três diferentes estados do Brasil. A coleta de dados nessas localidades incluiu a análise de aspectos históricos e demográficos, assim como também entrevistas semidirigidas com pluralidade simultânea de informantes. A partir da análise qualitativa dos dados das entrevistas semidirigidas, as quais têm como base um questionário, os resultados identificaram diferentes fatores que contribuíram para a manutenção/perda da variedade substandard Plautdietsch, bem como fatores que influenciaram no comportamento linguístico, o qual proporcionou uma substituição da língua-teto. Com base nos dados obtidos, constata-se a perda do Plautdietsch, vinculada a fatores como: a falta de prestígio, reforçada pelos próprios líderes e professores da comunidade; ao desprezo ou ausência do suporte institucional; ao grau de urbanização aliado à falta de uma conscientização sobre a importância da língua como marca de identidade de um grupo étnico (Identitätsmerkmal) e o uso e manutenção dessa língua de imigração. Além disso, houve, nas comunidades menonitas da região sul do Brasil, a substituição da língua-teto Hochdeutsch para o português e, na comunidade rural de Rio Verde (GO), a substituição da língua-teto inglês para o português. Entretanto, verificam-se atitudes positivas em relação ao uso e manutenção do Hochdeutsch/ inglês no âmbito familiar das diferentes comunidades. / The present study analyses the German-Portuguese linguistic encounter in three Mennonite communities in southern Brazil, as well as the German-Portuguese-English linguistic encounter in a Mennonite community in the southern State of Goiás (Brazil). These communities are of Anabaptist origin (1525) and thus are characterized as ethnic-religious groups. Although several centuries have passed since their origin, they still maintain strong ties of language, church, family and socio-cultural heritage forming colonies that function as “linguistic islands”, the result of a transnational migratory process. In 1930 the first group of Mennonites comes to Brazil. After a difficult time of colonization in the State of Santa Catarina they migrated to the States of Paraná and Rio Grande do Sul where the three colonies selected for this study were established: The Mennonite Community in Curitiba (State of Paraná), Colônia Nova (New Colony in the State of Rio Grande do Sul), and Colônia Witmarsum (Witmarsum Colony in the State of Paraná). In these places, generally speaking, trilingualism was established: Hochdeutsch (standard German), used in formal settings as church and school; Plautdietsch, a low-German variant used for informal settings of daily life; and Portuguese, especially for the inter-ethnic contacts. For decades in the church settings the use of the Hochdeutsch was almost exclusive. Religion constituted a determinant factor for the cohesion of the Mennonite Community, as well as for the maintenance of the Hochdeutsch. Another group of Mennonites, better known as the Holdeman Mennonites, came to Rio Verde (State of Goiás) in 1968 from the United States and Canada. This group is more conservative and thus maintains some former values, such as the nonconformity with the world in terms of clothing and lifestyle. The most evident traits of this behavior are the use of the veil and dresses for all women who are church members and beards for men. This group, besides the Portuguese language, speaks especially the English as their immigration language. The Plautdietsch in this community is only spoken by some of the older generation. Although living in kind of isolated communities, characterized by their faith and religion, and having their autonomy, influences of the new context are visible. With the growing contact of the German with the Portuguese language, the use of the Plautdietsch and the Hochdeutsch lost their exclusivity. The use of the Portuguese language became always more the norm in the community settings, as shown in the study of Dück (2005). The complexity of the observed linguistic situation in the communities researched raises several questions, especially related to the role of the Plautdietsch in these communities and their vitality compared to the prestige of the Dachsprachen Portuguese and the Hochdeutsch (or English), as well as the factors that could foster the exchange of one variety for another. After exposing the research problem and questions, the focus of this research is to: a) Identify the role of the Plautdietsch in the Mennonite communities, focusing on its vernacular role and delimitating the ethnic Mennonite identity; b) Describe the level of maintenance and linguistic vitality of the Plautdietsch in contact with the standard languages: Portuguese, English and Hochdeutsch in the Mennonite communities researched; c) Compare the attitudes of those who speak the language with their linguistic uses, identifying convergent and divergent processes underlying the actual stage of vitality/loss of the substandard variety of Plautdietsch; d) Describe the level of exchange of the Hochdeutsch and English Dachsprachen for the Portuguese; e) Analyze what the language(s) choice indicates concerning the social processes of the communities chosen for the present research. To answer these questions, the present research is guided by the pluridimensional and relational/contact dialectological model, as a broad science of variation that combines the areal dialectology with sociolinguistics. By means of this model we attempt to verify in which points, dimensions, and parameters, a particular variation or behavior occurs. The present research is distinguished from monopontual linguistics, centered in a bilingual community, by comparing different contexts and conditioning factors in a network of four different issues in three Brazilian States. The research data in these communities included the analysis of demographic and historical aspects, as well as semistructured interviews with a simultaneous plurality of informants. Based on the qualitative analysis of the semistructured interviews, with an underlying protocol, the results identified different factors that contributed for the maintenance/loss of the substandard Plautdietsch language variety, as well as factors that influenced the linguistic behavior, which fostered the exchange of the Dachsprache. There is a loss of the Plautdietsch because it is considered a language of less prestige, leading the leaders and teachers of their own community to deemphasize this language; the despicableness or lack of institutional support; the level of urbanization tied to the lack of consciousness of the importance of the language as an identity factor of an ethnic group (Identitätsmerkmal), and the use and maintenance of this immigration language. In addition, in the southern States of Brazil the Dachsprache Hochdeutsch was exchanged for the Portuguese, and in the Rio Verde Community, the Dachsprache English was exchanged for the Portuguese. On the other hand, positive attitudes are seen relating to the use and maintenance of the Hochdeutsch/English in the family spheres of the communities.