Diss.--Freie Universität Berlin. / Bibliography: p. 201-211.

Thesis (Ed. D.)--Columbia University Teachers College, 1985. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 235-251).

Thèse de doctorat de troisième cycle--Université Cheikh Anta Diop de Dakar, 2004. / Cover title. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1981. / Typescript. Vita. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 151-159).

<p> Since the majority of Arabic language institutes teach Modern Standard Arabic (MSA), studies of the speech act performance of learners of Arabic as a second/foreign language compare learners&rsquo; productions made in MSA with the productions of native Arabic speakers. However, MSA is not spoken natively, and Arabic speech acts are performed orally. Therefore, individuals in the sample group either use their own dialect or they consciously code-switch to MSA, which leads to artificial production, especially when those productions are elicited via a written DCT. The present study, however, used the closed role-play data collection method so as to investigate the development of refusals to invitations made by L2 learners of Emirati Arabic at two levels of ability, low-intermediate and advanced, and to compare their production with the production of native Emirati Arabic speakers. The goal here is to determine whether there is a positive correlation between the learners&rsquo; language proficiency and their pragmatic development. Further, the study seeks to determine whether length of residence in the target community plays a significant role in acquiring Emirati Arabic refusals to invitations. The goal of the study&rsquo;s second objective is to determine whether there is a positive correlation between length of residence in the target community and pragmatic development. Regarding both objectives, the current study is interested in revealing whether or not the status of interlocutors (higher, equal, or lower) modifies the degree of directness, semantic formulas, and content of NSs and NNS&rsquo;s refusals to invitations in the same way. The study used the same classification scheme of refusal strategies that was proposed by Beebe et al. (1990) but with different situations and scenarios. Findings showed differences between the NS and NNSs of Emirati Arabic in the frequency, content, and order of the semantic formulas used as well as the effect of interlocutors&rsquo; social statuses on these variables. Further, findings revealed that learners of Emirati Arabic were remarkably more direct than the Emirati Arabic NSs, while the former learners who remained longer in the target community produced refusal patterns similar to those the Emirati Arabic NSs produced.</p><p>

<p> This study examines the discourse of Beppe Grillo, founder of the Five Star Movement, a populist political movement created on his personal blog in 2009. It analyzes three of the texts published on Grillo&rsquo;s blog about the constitutional referendum proposed by the ex-Prime Minister Matteo Renzi in 2016 by applying various linguistic models from the field of Critical Discourse Analysis to demonstrate some of the most salient linguistic patterns that coincide with characteristics commonly found in populist discourse. By examining the socio-political background of the movement, this study also aims to reveal the significance of the blog as a tool in the success of their campaign against the referendum. We seek to place Grillo&rsquo;s discourse within the realm of populist discourse by observing how he utilizes the referendum to promote his movement and challenge the established parties of Italy.</p><p>

Studies by Fishman (1968a) and Pool (1971) show some correlation between economic development and multilingualism. In other words, countries that are multilingual tend to be less economically developed. This kind of investigation is not easy or straightforward. Pool mentions three difficulties associated with such a study. The first is what to measure and how to measure it; the second is unreliability in sources of statistical information, and the third, and probably most dangerous, is the risk of making erroneous causal inferences. While it is necessary to keep these cautions in mind, it is nevertheless appropriate to give these studies some thought. For example, why does multilingualism correlate with poor economic growth? Are there any inherent problems in societal multilingualism that have adverse effects on economic performance of certain countries? Are there any ways that this effect can be minimized? This study of language planning in Ghana’s economic development is an exploratory study of language use in the educational system of Ghana, its relation to the general sociolinguistic and demographic profile of the country, and the potential for greater roles for the indigenous Ghanaian languages in the pursuit of economic progress. The study attempts to contextualize the case study of Ghana within the larger framework of multilingualism and multilingual education, by analyzing the factors which, in the past, determined and continue to determine the language education policies of the developing nations in the former British Colonial Africa. The study has three components; the descriptive, the empirical and the programmatic. The descriptive component examined the socio-historical factors that shaped language policies in the past and continue to influence present-day policies. Ghana was born out of an amalgamation of several otherwise independent and powerful kingdoms. This was the result of colonial intervention. This amalgamation brought with it a complex linguistic problem. In order to promote unity among the different ethnic groups that have come under the new nation, and to pursue their economic and political agenda, the colonial government set into motion a language policy which gave English a sole official language status, which has remained ever since. With this language policy in the midst of such linguistic diversity as Ghana's, it is expected that problems would be experienced by persons who are not proficient in the official language, and by persons who are illiterate. The purpose of the study, therefore, was to assess the language-related and literacy-related problems that occur in social, economic and political experiences of the people. It was necessary to evaluate the success or failure of this policy, and that is what the second component of the study sought to investigate. The empirical component comprised a sociolinguistic survey, conducted with the aim of evaluating the present language policies in a small way, and with a view to finding out what went wrong and why. The survey sought to find out the real language situation in Ghana and the level of individual multilingualism or bilingualism in three sample populations, which were assumed to represent the different types of communities found in Ghana; (a) rural homogeneous, (b) rural heterogeneous and (c) urban. It also sought to find out how successfully the ideologies behind the present language policies have been fulfilled. In short, the survey tried to find out the role played by the various languages used in Ghana in the social, economic and political lives of the people, and how the languages stand in relation to one another as far as their functions are concerned. As part of the empirical component, an English proficiency test was conducted in six Junior Secondary Schools (JSS) in the three districts involved in the survey (two schools from each district). This was to find out to what extent the results would reflect the emphasis placed on the learning and use of English as the official language of Ghana. The following summarize some of the findings; 1. the majority of the people use the indigenous languages more than English, including the elite; English serves only an instrumental role; 2. most of the people are engaged in occupations that do not require English; 3. the emphasis on English prevents the larger masses of the population from having access to vital information on matters that could otherwise promote the economic, social and political well-being of the people; 4. the school drop-out rate is high, and most children drop out at a stage where they have no firm grip on literacy in either English or a Ghanaian language; 5. learning through a second language implies knowing that language, and the conditions for learning English in Ghana are not favorable (lack of native speakers, lack of qualified teachers and textbooks, etc.); the result is that after 9 years of schooling, most children can neither speak nor read and write in English; 6. the results of the proficiency test showed that most of the students in the final year of Junior Secondary (JSS) (the stage which happens to be the terminal point for a majority of the students) have such a low level of literacy in English that they cannot communicate in it in any meaningful way. 7. the unity that English was supposed to bring about seemed to be better served by the indigenous languages. In the urban and linguistically heterogeneous rural communities, the people are more united by the fact that the minority groups are able to learn the language of the majority group without losing their own languages; these major Ghanaian languages feature most in inter-ethnic communication. The programmatic component is a proposal for a national language policy and a consequent proposal of a framework for language of education in Ghana. The proposal was based on the findings of the survey and other theoretical and pragmatic facts, some of which include the fact that: 1. bilingual education is vital and necessary for Ghanaian children; 2. research into second language acquisition supports the positive role of L1 in L2 acquisition; 3. concept formation is important in the early part of a child's education, and the language that can more efficiently transmit knowledge to the schoolchildren at the early stages of schooling is the mother tongue or L1. 4. the full development of a nation demands (a) mobilization of the population in informed participation in the social, economic and political programs of the nation; (b) equalization of access to information - for example, information regarding workplace health and safety, global problems of population growth, resource consumption and the environment, and how to help deal with the problems. The present policy makes it possible for only a small proportion of the population to become fluent in English and have access to higher education. This situation denies a majority of the population access to information, because they are not literate in the official language in which most of the relevant information is encoded. The framework proposed gives equal emphasis to English and the Ghanaian languages, and ensures that children who drop out of school early are able to read and write at least a major Ghanaian language. It is also acknowledged that literacy in a Ghanaian language can play positive roles in the lives of the literates by way of acquisition of knowledge and the opportunity to participate better in nation-building. / Graduate

<p> Holyoke, Massachusetts is not traditionally seen as a hub for immigrant experience. To the contrary, there is a rich history of diverse groups occupying Holyoke. For the purposes of this thesis, I focus on two pan-ethnoracial groups: Puerto Ricans and Indians. On the one hand, Puerto Ricans, a Latinx subgroup, comprise the majority of the downtown population of Holyoke, which is the site of the highest concentration of Puerto Ricans outside of the island. On the other hand, Indians, a South Asian subgroup, have very little visibility in the larger community fabric. Additionally, South Asians are undertheorized in the context of the east coast, and particularly in Massachusetts. Yet, despite these differences, both the Puerto Rican and Indian diasporas create their identity vis-&agrave;-vis the other. I analyze the sociolinguistic and sociocultural experiences of these two groups through a comparative, community-based examination. Through analyzing the experiences of two pan-ethnoracial groups simultaneously and in relation to each other and whiteness, I seek to bypass the white/black racial imaginary in the U.S. context. My analysis is sharpened by paying attention to the ways ethnoracial and linguistic identities come to be enacted, reproduced, and transformed in the context of mass mediatization of language and identity. Examining the construction of identity in a comparative manner of two groups who are represented varyingly in popular media and everyday discourse illuminates the profound erasures that happen when experiences of a particular group are homogenized. A theoretical lens on language adds to complexity of the analysis, as it is often a group boundary marker and through which differences are perceived. </p><p>

No description available.

<p> This dissertation studies the survival, or resistance, of regional languages in France through the use of two case studies: Picard in Picardy and Proven&ccedil;al in Provence. In order to create the French nation, the revolutionaries of 1789 decided upon the necessity of political unity. In order to facilitate, or to create, this unity, the cultural provinces were abolished and generic <i> d&eacute;partements</i> were created in their stead. However, when political unity did not occur immediately after the territorial change, the revolutionaries determined that national unity, both political and cultural, would be attained through the imposition of the French language. It was thus language that was deemed to be the greatest separating factor of the French at this period. In 1794, Abb&eacute; Gr&eacute;goire called for the &ldquo;programmed demise&rdquo; of the regional languages through education in and of French. While this program was not officially enacted until the Third Republic (1870&ndash;1914), due to numerous factors, these languages were supposed to have died long ago. While their numbers of speakers have decreased, and there are no longer any monolingual regional language speakers, they still exist. How is this fact possible? Despite explanations attributed to enduring diglossia, the extended process of language shift or time itself, this study focuses on regional identity and posits that the durable bond between regional identity and language is the explanation.</p><p>