Master of Arts / Department of Modern Languages / Mary T. Copple / Adjective use and intensification by native speakers of English has been the subject of much study, yet intensification strategies used by non-native speakers have received relatively less attention. The present study compares adjective use by five native English speakers with that of five English L2 speakers at Kansas State University in order to describe in detail how learner patterns of use differ from those of native speakers living in the same community. From conversational data, adjectives were extracted and analyzed for linguistic features such as adjective class, and use of intensification. Results quantify how the non-native speakers have access to a smaller set of adjectives than native speakers, and how those sets differ. Interestingly, the L2 speakers intensify their adjectives at a higher rate than native speakers, again employing a smaller set. The types of adjectives used by the two groups differed in significant ways, with native speakers using more precise, contextually-specific evaluative adjectives such as crappy, elite, retarded, and obsessed, while non-native speakers used more generic adjectives such as happy, nice, long, and famous. The generalized nature of these adjectives, as well as the smaller number of lexemes at the non-native speakers’ disposal, may account for the increased rate of intensification shown by the non-native speakers. Specifically, the depth and complexity of meaning required for conversational interaction is more often handled by native speakers via a variety of specialized adjectives, while non-native speakers must rely more on adjective intensification in order to convey subtle differences in meaning. These results help us better understand how advanced learner language compares to native use. Implications for English language teaching include, but are not limited to, new insight into the types of adjectives taught for conversational English, explicit teaching of intensification strategies, and teaching learners how to construct compound adjectives.

This thesis examines the L2 acquisition and L1 attrition of aspectual properties in Spanish. Specifically, it investigates preterite versus imperfect distinctions and the ongoing value of the Spanish present tense among English-speaking L2 learners and long-term Spanish immigrants. In contrast to previous research which explains L2 learners’ difficulties as a result of either maturational constraints or morphosyntactic development, this study provides a supplementary explanation focusing on L1 transfer of the semantic patterns of tense morphemes. The study proceeds by comparing data from L2 learners with that of long-term Spanish immigrants. Unlike what is argued for L2 acquisition difficulties, the difficulties immigrants may have with tense and aspect cannot stem solely from impairment reasons. These immigrants acquired the L2 as adults. Therefore, to the extent that L2 learners share similar patterns of errors with adult immigrants, L2 speakers’ difficulties cannot be unequivocally linked to causes related to impairment. Instead, following a selectional approach to aspectual variation (De Swart, 1998), it is argued that transfer of the selectional patterns of tense morphemes offers a more encompassing explanation of the difficulties L2 speakers face with tense and aspect. Data collection involved two truth-value judgment tasks, two acceptability judgment tasks and two elicited production tasks. Twenty long-term immigrants, twenty English-speaking L2 learners of Spanish, and twenty native speakers of Spanish serving as control participants took part in the study. Results show incorrect activation of aspectual patterns by both experimental groups and similar patterns of difficulties in some of the conditions under investigation. I conclude that transfer from the other language offers a more adequate explanation of the difficulties L2 learners face

Cette recherche met en parallèle les cultures germanophone et francophone par l’entremise de l’histoire de la contrebasse. La problématique consiste à expliquer l’absence de littérature en français sur l’école viennoise de contrebasse, qui s’est développée dans la seconde moitié du XVIIIe siècle et qui a eu une certaine incidence sur le développement de cet instrument. La première section propose une biographie des principaux représentants de cette école, tous contrebassistes virtuoses actifs à Vienne autour de 1750. Suivent un tour d’horizon des œuvres pour contrebasse concertante du classicisme viennois, puis un rappel historique sur le déclin de cette école. Dans la deuxième section, un parallèle est tracé entre l’avancée du violoncelle et le recul de la contrebasse au XIXe siècle. Suivent une présentation des instruments les plus appréciés de cette époque, à savoir le piano, le cor français et le violoncelle, puis une comparaison entre l’évolution de la contrebasse en France et dans les pays germanophones au XIXe siècle. Finalement, la troisième section est consacrée à la renaissance de l’école viennoise de contrebasse, amorcée au milieu du XXe siècle. Pour observer le déploiement de cette évolution dans les cultures française, germanophone et anglo-saxonne, cette section comporte un examen des œuvres publiées par les maisons d’édition spécialisées en musique ainsi que de celles enregistrées par les contrebassistes. / This research draws a parallel between the German and the French cultures through the history of the double bass. The problematic consists in explaining the absence of literature in French about the Viennese school of bass playing, which developed in the second half of the 18th century and had a certain impact on the development of this instrument. The first section proposes a biography of the main representatives of this school, which where all virtuosos double bassists in Vienna around 1750. This is followed by an overview of works for solos double bass of the First Viennese School, and a brief history of the decline of this school. In the second section a parallel is drawn between the progress of the violoncello and the decline of the double bass in the 19th century. This is followed by a presentation of the most appreciated instruments of this era, i.e. the piano, the French horn and the violoncello, and a comparison between the evolution of the double bass in France and in the German speaking countries in the 19th century. Finally, the third section is dedicated to the renaissance of the Viennese school of bass playing, which was initiated half way through the 20th century. To look closer to this evolution in the French, German and Anglo-Saxon cultures, this section also includes a review of works published by music publishers and those recorded by double bassists. / Diese Forschung will zwei Kulturen, die deutschsprachige und die französische, in Verbindung mit der Geschichte des Kontrabasses bringen. Die Fragestellung besteht darin, das Versäumnis der französischen Literatur über die Wiener Kontrabassschule zu erklären, eine Schule die sich in der zweiten Hälfte des 18. Jahrhunderts entwickelt und die eine Wirkung auf die Entwicklung dieses Instrumentes gehabt hat. Im ersten Abschnitt wird eine kurze Biographie der Hauptvertreter dieser Schule vorgeschlagen, die alle Kontrabassvirtuose und um 1750 in Wien tätig waren. Es folgt ein Überblick der Werke der Wiener Klassik für konzertanten Kontrabass, dann ein historischer Exkurs über den Niedergang dieser Schule. Im zweiten Abschnitt wird eine Parallele zwischen dem Vorsprung des Violoncellos und dem Rückgang des Kontrebasses im 19. Jahrhundert gezogen. In diesem Abschnitt werden desweiteren die bevorzugten Instrumente dieser Epoche, nämlich das Klavier, das Horn und das Violoncello diskutiert, und die Entwicklung des Kontrabasses in Frankreich und im deutschsprachigen Raum im 19. Jahrhundert verglichen. Schließlich widmet sich der dritte Abschnitt der Renaissance der Wiener Kontrabassschule, die in der Mitte des 20. Jahrhunderts begann. Um eine richtige Betrachtung der Entfaltung dieser Entwicklung in den französischen, deutschsprachigen und angelsächsischen Kulturen zu ermöglichen, findet sich in diesem Abschnitt ebenfalls eine Untersuchung der Werke, die von den Musikverlagen veröffentlicht wurden wie auch derjenigen, die von den Kontrabassisten aufgenommenen wurden.

Mémoire numérisé par la Direction des bibliothèques de l'Université de Montréal. / L'Uruguayen Eduardo Galeano, journaliste de formation, est également l'auteur d'une vaste production littéraire qui l'a fait connaître sur le plan international. La Canción de nosotros (1975), sujet de notre étude, est une œuvre de fiction qui incorpore des extraits d'une compilation de documents historiques remontant au XVIIe siècle, laquelle a été construite à partir de textes portant sur l'Inquisition de Lima et des provinces du Rio de La Plata. Notre recherche a donc pour but d'étudier les procédés d'emprunt de textes employés par Eduardo Galeano dans l'élaboration de son œuvre. Pour ce faire, nous avons eu recours aux propositions théoriques de Dominique Maingueneau et Graciela Reyes, qui ont abondamment traité cette question. Plutôt que d'aborder l'ensemble de leur théorie, nous avons retenu certains éléments susceptibles de faire avancer notre analyse. Dans le premier chapitre de notre recherche, nous examinons les composantes du texte incorporé afin de mieux évaluer les modifications subies par le changement de contexte - passage d'un contexte historique à un contexte littéraire. Mentionnons tout d'abord qu'il s'agit de documents historiques couvrant une longue période, c'est-à-dire allant de 1569 à 1820. Par ailleurs, dans les écrits historiques, souvent destinés à la compilation de faits et de dates, l'aspect véridique semble dominer aux dépens du style. Aussi, il importe de souligner le caractère juridique de ces textes portant précisément sur le Tribunal du Saint-Office de l'Inquisition. Dans le deuxième chapitre, nous abordons les éléments structurants de La Canción de nosotros, à savoir : le contrôle de la parole, la perte de l'identité, la violence, les libertés brimées ; bref, autant d'éléments qui renvoient au contexte sociopolitique dans lequel cette œuvre s'inscrit. Il faut savoir que l'œuvre consiste en plusieurs récits qui racontent le quotidien de gens vivant dans la peur entretenue par un régime dictatorial. Le troisième chapitre est consacré à l'étude de la structure narrative de l'œuvre. Cette structure se caractérise par une volonté de laisser les personnages raconter les faits, en rendant le lecteur témoin de leur discours, de leurs réflexions, de leurs souvenirs et de leurs états d'âme. Nous remarquons aussi que jamais les autorités n'ont la parole. Le quatrième chapitre porte sur l'analyse du discours, laquelle nous a permis d'établir les rapports que l'Histoire entretient avec la fiction. Nous évoquerons ici le travail de sélection des documents historiques, qui constitue la première étape de la manipulation. À cet effet, il convient de mentionner que les documents choisis par Eduardo Galeano proviennent de deux œuvres élaborées à partir d'une compilation de données historiques, effectuée par José Toribio Medina, avocat chilien. Ainsi, à partir de ces œuvres, l'auteur a procédé à son tour à une sélection de fragments qu'il a extraits à différents endroits et qu'il a réunis pour former un récit, lequel comporte sept chapitres. L'étude de ce travail de reconstruction (qu'un tel exercice suppose) s'est avérée des plus intéressantes, particulièrement en ce qui a trait au procédé d'intégration dans une œuvre dont le contexte historique diffère tout autant que le contexte de production. Cette analyse nous a donc permis d'identifier les mécanismes par lesquels l'insertion du texte cité déplace le discours historiographique, et de voir comment l'ensemble de ce texte est régi, comment se présente sa structure. Nous remarquons que l'insertion du texte historique est telle que ce dernier s'intègre très bien dans la progression thématique de l'œuvre. Notons que le passage de l'œuvre situé avant l'insertion sert ici de préambule pour préparer le lecteur, d'une part, à l'ambiance de répression et, d'autre part, à une structure fragmentée. Nous abordons également les mécanismes d'intégration qui laissent supposer une volonté d'ajustement entre le récit historique et le contexte, et qui rendent possible l'enchaînement passé-présent. Cet enchaînement élémentaire est d'autant plus important qu'il permet d'assurer la continuité et la cohérence dans la succession des événements qui constituent la diégèse de l'ensemble du récit. Initialement, la juxtaposition de textes traitant de la dictature et de l'Inquisition provoque des équivalences thématiques produites par la notion de répression qu'évoquent ces institutions. Toutefois, le texte cité se prête à une multitude d'interprétations. Il faut donc éviter les réductions immédiates et aller au-delà de ces équivalences. Dans ce sens, les résultats de notre analyse nous ont permis de tirer un bon nombre de conclusions à l'égard des différentes fonctions de l'Histoire dans l'œuvre. La présence de liens étroits entre les deux textes suggère, entre autres, une continuité historique. Nous constatons que ces liens sont sous-tendus dans le texte par quatre axes structurants, regroupés autour du thème de la répression. Le contexte nous apparaît donc intimement lié à la structure de l'œuvre. En fait, que l'on se place sur le plan de renonciation ou de l'énoncé, il semble que nous soyons en présence des mêmes idées principales : la persistance d'un phénomène répressif dans cette région du monde, et l'absence d'une voix dans le discours historique officiel, en l'occurrence, celle du peuple. Enfin, La Canción de nosotros présente une structure fragmentée qui, de ce fait, interpelle le lecteur en le soumettant à un véritable exercice de reconstitution des faits. Les documents historiques que contient cette œuvre représentent une sorte de miroir où se reflète la condition de chacun des personnages. Le rôle de ces documents nous apparaît fondamental, puisque leur présence laisse place à d'autres versions de l'Histoire, et favorise une réflexion, voire un questionnement quant à l'Histoire officielle. D'autre part, nous nous devons de nuancer cette conclusion, car nous savons que le choix du texte cité, ainsi que la manipulation qu'il subit, confèrent à l'œuvre un caractère subjectif. Mais au-delà de ce constat, n'y a-t-il pas lieu d'évoquer aussi la dimension objective de l'œuvre, qui se traduit dans la représentation de la réalité sociopolitique que l'on y retrouve?

Master of Arts / Modern Languages / Earl K. Brown / Considerable research exists on subjunctive versus indicative mood patterns of use by both native and L2 speakers of Spanish. Though intermediate level textbooks expose L2 learners to the various tenses of the subjunctive mood, literature has shown that students still struggle with its implementation in their discourse, and various reasons are offered. Little has been done to analyze the prescribed uses that textbooks offer to students regarding mood selection and how these prescribed uses may differ from what Spanish speakers do in real life. The paper first offers a brief explanation of L2 learners’ mood selection in Spanish, followed by a description of Spanish moods and the realis/irrealis dichotomy that is often placed at the center of Spanish mood selection in the literature. Following this, the study offers an analysis of six intermediate level Spanish textbooks’ prescribed uses of two past subjunctive tenses (present perfect and imperfect), as prior research has shown an overlap in the functions of their indicative counterparts. The textbook analysis is then compared to a corpus composed of messages sent on the social media platform Twitter, containing one of six emotive phrases as main clauses, with three in present, three in preterit. The results show that Spanish-speaking users of Twitter employ the prescribed subjunctive mood more often when the verb in the main clause is expressed in the preterit instead of the present, though no such tendency is discussed in the textbooks. The results also reveal an overlap in the functions of the past tense subjunctive moods. The present perfect subjunctive (i.e. haya trabajado ‘has worked’) is used in the subordinate clause nearly 40% of the time with emotive verbal main clauses expressed in the preterit, where the imperfect subjunctive would normally be expected according to prescriptive norms. This pattern of use is not discussed in any of the analyzed textbooks. A discussion of the limitations of the study, implications for textbook writers and further research then follow.

Master of Arts / Department of Modern Languages / Mary T. Copple / Using the framework for politeness developed by Brown and Levinson (1987), this research evaluates the production of politeness strategies by sophomore and senior EFL learners in Afghanistan by focusing on the language used in letters of inquiry. Twenty eight letters emailed by Afghan students at Balkh University were surveyed by thirteen native American English speakers. Each letter was surveyed by six different American participants who gave their perspectives about the effectiveness and politeness of the language used in the letters by the students. The American participants’ evaluations of politeness were compared with actual linguistic features employed, including the word choice in the salutation and closing, the use of indirect language, and politeness markers (e.g. thank you or other expressions of appreciation). The results show that a relationship between proficiency and politeness exists, consistent with the findings of Tanaka and Kawade (1982) who found that second language learners acquire both linguistic and pragmatic knowledge as the learning of the target language progresses. In addition, this study describes the linguistic behavior perceived as most polite by the native speakers and reflects on possible instructional implications.

Master of Arts / Department of Modern Languages / Douglas K. Benson / The primary aim of this thesis is to examine the appropriate procedures needed to implement a Two Way Bilingual Immersion (TWBI) Program designed for an elementary school from grades K-4 and to make recommendations related to that process. Section I begins with an introduction to bilingual education and the different types of BE programs in the United States. It also examines the growth of these programs throughout the United States in recent years. Section II presents a general introduction to the characteristics and advantages of a TWBI program over other types of BE. The advantages and strategies presented here are intended to help teachers better understand the importance of using daily repetition of routine phrases, songs, and poems in their instruction, and the benefits to students in their overall academic progress as well. It also discusses the importance of language variation. Section III explores the implementation of a TWBI program in public schools. It highlights the importance of the selection of students, parental and community involvement, staff development and curriculum development. All of these factors are essential to having an effective program. Section IV presents a description of a specific TWBI program implemented in an elementary school in southwest Kansas. This section highlights many of the same components mentioned in Sections I-III as they apply to those being implemented in this specific school. This process can serve as a model for other schools interested in the implementation of a TWBI Program. Section V presents an explanation of second language acquisition and some of the advantages of learning a second language in a communicative classroom. Section VI presents my evaluation of five math and five reading activities used in a kindergarten class based on second-language acquisition theory. I also make some recommendations for pre and post activities, which can be used to activate the students’ schemata and check for comprehension.

Master of Arts / Department of Modern Languages / Douglas Benson / The principal objective of this paper is to provide a thematic teaching unit that explores the Aztec, Incan and Mayan cultures of Latin America, designed for a level II Spanish course. It contains theoretical underpinnings for teaching language, culture and literature while incorporating concepts related to the development of communicative competence; processing instruction; the use of scaffolding in the zone of proximal development; target language instruction; and the inclusion of authentic materials and language in the classroom. The classroom management strategies explained and used throughout the unit include pre, during and post-reading activities; small group activities that help to develop communicative competence through negotiation of meaning and interactional feedback; focused tasks and collaborative output tasks; the use of structured input, structured output and information exchange; the PACE approach to grammar teaching; and the incorporation of authentic aural and written texts. Lesson plans for an eighteen day unit consisting of 40 minute classes are outlined; the lesson objective, necessary materials, time needed for each activity, and expected results of each lesson are included. Each lesson activity is made clear through a description of the activity and instructions for the teacher. The daily lesson plans contain authentic and teacher-created materials that can be found in the appendices section. At the end of the thematic unit, students complete cumulative activities that relate indigenous cultures to present-day life in Latin America through investigating the influence of Aztec words on the Spanish and English languages, analyzing a poem about Peru, and reading an article about discrimination against Mayan descendants in Central America, Mexico and the U.S.

Master of Arts / Department of Modern Languages / Douglas K. Benson / In this report, I present my personal teaching philosophy and the instructional practices that I believe best contribute to a successful second language classroom. Comprising the teaching philosophy chapter are sections concerning: the role of the instructor, the three parameters of post-method pedagogy, the maximization of learning opportunities and minimalization of perceptual mismatches, the need for negotiated interaction, the promotion of learner autonomy, the teaching of higher order thinking skills, the advantages of contextualized input, and the development of students' cultural consciousness. The instructional practices chapter describes my approach to grammar instruction, vocabulary instruction and the implementation of authentic texts. To conclude, I offer a model five-day lesson plan, complete with structured pedagogical activities, contextualized to the theme of food, which will integrate the ideas and concepts discussed in the philosophy and practices chapters.

Master of Arts / Department of Modern Languages / Janice McGregor / The current study investigates phrase-initial parts of speech as found in intermediate German textbooks and compares these findings to utterance-initial parts of speech as found in spontaneous speech in German-language interactions. This is important, because learning and using German word order appears to be a struggle for German learners whose first language is English. Research has shown that possible word order realizations in a language are partly restricted by the parts of speech system of that language (Hengeveld, Rijkhoff, & Siewierska, 2004; Vulanovic & Köhler, 2009). This is important because English and German have different parts of speech systems (Hengeveld et. al., 2004; Hengeveld & van Lier, 2010). Doherty (2005) analyzed English to German translations of an international science magazine and found that almost every second sentence begins differently. Instead, this study looks at talk in contexts of use and compares these findings with textbook language because, in recent years, communicative approaches to language teaching have been adopted by a large number of US German language programs. One would thus expect that textbooks used in these classrooms would contain at least some input with constructions that are typical to contexts of use. The results of the study indicate that construction-initial parts of speech in textbooks and in contexts of use are quite different. These differences imply that if it is a communicative approach that is being promoted, textbook authors and German educators would do well to expose students to actual talk from contexts of use so that they might learn to make meaning based on considerations of context.