This thesis examines how men and women as co-interactants in management meetings use various interactional mechanisms to play out their roles and identities, as they position their ideas in a particular way for intended meaning and effect. The study aims to demonstrate how a particular approach to the examination of naturalistic data, gathered through the use of a case study design, based on recordings and supported by a number of ethnographic strategies can, when examined and informed by conversation analysis, pragmatics and more indirectly critical discourse analysis, generate further insights into the semantic and pragmatic meanings of utterances. The study focuses on four companies in postcolonial Zimbabwe, where the entry of women into senior management positions has changed the complexion of most organisations, but men continue to be the fundamental power brokers in the corporate workplace, which remains a site of social struggle where language, power and gender are important variables. This study finds that while perceptions of power may not vary significantly between men and women, how they use language to play out this power in meetings is of significance. The study suggests that gender-linked communication styles are reflected in management of talk in areas of influence, such as the corporate boardroom. It also shows that men and women, irrespective of their levels of position power or perceived power, present themselves in meetings in different ways, possibly due to gender-role socialisation processes. Apart from generating some new insights regarding theory and research methodology, and describing and interpreting male-female interaction in an under-researched domain (management meetings in a Zimbabwean corporate setting at a time of major socio-economic transformation), it is hoped that this study will also be of value at an applicational level: serving for instance to support applied linguistic goals such as the development of Language for Specific Purposes courses; and conscientising corporate citizens, in particular, to be more accommodating about, and appreciative of differences in communication styles that may be gender-based. / Linguistics / D.Litt. et Phil. (Linguistics)

This thesis examines how men and women as co-interactants in management meetings use various interactional mechanisms to play out their roles and identities, as they position their ideas in a particular way for intended meaning and effect. The study aims to demonstrate how a particular approach to the examination of naturalistic data, gathered through the use of a case study design, based on recordings and supported by a number of ethnographic strategies can, when examined and informed by conversation analysis, pragmatics and more indirectly critical discourse analysis, generate further insights into the semantic and pragmatic meanings of utterances. The study focuses on four companies in postcolonial Zimbabwe, where the entry of women into senior management positions has changed the complexion of most organisations, but men continue to be the fundamental power brokers in the corporate workplace, which remains a site of social struggle where language, power and gender are important variables. This study finds that while perceptions of power may not vary significantly between men and women, how they use language to play out this power in meetings is of significance. The study suggests that gender-linked communication styles are reflected in management of talk in areas of influence, such as the corporate boardroom. It also shows that men and women, irrespective of their levels of position power or perceived power, present themselves in meetings in different ways, possibly due to gender-role socialisation processes. Apart from generating some new insights regarding theory and research methodology, and describing and interpreting male-female interaction in an under-researched domain (management meetings in a Zimbabwean corporate setting at a time of major socio-economic transformation), it is hoped that this study will also be of value at an applicational level: serving for instance to support applied linguistic goals such as the development of Language for Specific Purposes courses; and conscientising corporate citizens, in particular, to be more accommodating about, and appreciative of differences in communication styles that may be gender-based. / Linguistics and Modern Languages / D.Litt. et Phil. (Linguistics)

Cross-dialectal acceptance of a written standard (CAWS) is essential for that standard to be used by speakers of divergent dialects of a language. Earlier works have focused on the influence of linguistic differences on comprehension of the standard, but little attention has been given the influence of socio-cultural and programmatic factors on acceptance of a standard. Case studies of the Lelemi and Likpakpaanl language development programmes provide information through which the socio-cultural and programmatic factors which influence CAWS can be identified. Due to the complex nature of the topic, various indicators are used to measure levels of acceptance of the written standard by speakers of each dialect. Socio-cultural factors which influence CAWS relate either to the language community's degree of interdialectal communication or to their perception of being a unified people. These factors include social structure, governance, cultural and religious activities, and patterns of marriage, commerce, transportation and migration. The existence of extensive social networks and the role of opinion leaders were also influential Activities of the two language development programmes which positively influenced CAWS included those which informed and involved speakers of all dialects of the language. These activities built on the existing levels of unity and inter-dialectal communication by using existing social networks. The Lelemi programme involved speakers of all dialects more uniformly than did the Likpakpaanl programme. However, both programmes informed and involved speakers of all dialects to some extent. The dialect communities of each language did not equally accept the written standards. Acceptance appeared to correlate more strongly with programmatic factors than with sociocultural or linguistic factors. This thesis provides a model for language teams to follow in 1) identifying socio-cultural factors which have the potential to influence CAWS; 2) applying knowledge about the socio-cultural situation to programme planning; and, 3) assessing levels of acceptance by speakers of each dialect. / Linguistics and Modern Languages / D. Litt. et Phil. (Linguistics)

Notre questionnement autour des politiques linguistiques familiales au sein des familles plurilingues vivant dans l’environnement multilingue et multiculturel luxembourgeois est motivé par le trilinguisme qui caractérise le Luxembourg, la forte mixité de la population, l’intérêt que suscite les questions linguistiques des enfants issus de l’immigration et scolarisés au Luxembourg ainsi que notre expérience personnelle avec les langues au quotidien. À cet effet, nous cherchons à comprendre comment les parents issus de divers socles linguistiques ou ayant la même langue d’origine communiquent entre eux avant la naissance des enfants et comment la naissance des enfants reconfigure les usages linguistiques familiaux. Entre autres, nous cherchons à comprendre les motivations des choix linguistiques parentaux, les stratégies de communication mises en place par les parents pour établir un climat de communication en famille et l’influence des enfants sur l’environnement linguistique familial. Pour ce faire, sur le plan méthodologique, en couplant les entretiens ethnographiques avec les enregistrements des conversations familiales, nous avons eu accès aux pratiques linguistiques déclarées et effectives de dix familles aux profils linguistiques très variés et dont la résidence des parents au Luxembourg varie entre sept et quarante-deux ans. La méthodologie de l’analyse de contenu nous a permis de comprendre que l’expérience migratoire de chaque parent, les conditions d’acquisition/d’apprentissage et d’utilisation des langues qu’offre l’environnement luxembourgeois et le désir de développer le capital linguistique des enfants sont certaines des raisons qui poussent les parents à adopter une attitude positive envers le plurilinguisme. Plus loin, nos résultats suggèrent que bien que les enfants ne participent pas activement aux prises des décisions sur les choix des langues à véhiculer en famille, ils exercent cependant une influence sur l’environnement linguistique familial. Dans la même lignée, nous avons découvert que dès les premiers contacts des enfants avec des langues autres que celles de la famille, ces enfants ont tendance à avoir une préférence pour les langues dominantes de l’extérieur. En outre, nos résultats suggèrent qu’il n’y a pas de stratégie de communication parentale standard pour la transmission des langues familiales, mais que dans chaque famille, en fonction des objectifs que les parents se sont fixés, ces derniers peuvent adopter diverses stratégies face aux usages linguistiques de leurs enfants. En somme, nos travaux ouvrent de nouvelles pistes de recherche en politiques linguistiques familiales dont la dimension éducative des enfants issus de l’immigration nous semble particulièrement importante. / The importance of investigating the family language policies within multilingual families living in Luxembourg is primarily based the trilingualism that characterizes Luxembourg, the heterogeneity of its population, problems faced by immigrant children schooling in Luxembourg’s school and individual’s personal experience with everyday language use as well. Hence, this thesis’s aim is to investigate how parents from different linguistic backgrounds or having the same language of origin communicated with each other prior to the birth of their children and how the birth of these children reshapes the family language environment. Specifically, we aim to understand the parents’ motivations with regard to their language choices and the communication strategies they implement in order to establish a family communication environment. In addition, considering the effects of language contact, we focus on the school languages and their influence on the children’s language at home. In order to achieve this, from a methodological point of view, by combining ethnographic interviews with the recordings of a family conversation, we gained access to the declared and real linguistic practices of ten families with highly diverse linguistic profiles. These families reside between seven and forty-two years in Luxembourg. Further, content analysis was used to examine the migratory experience of each parent. Some of the major reasons why parents adopted a positive attitude towards multilingualism were (a) the language learning and use opportunities offered by Luxembourg and (b) the desire to develop the linguistic capital of their children. Our results later suggest that although children do not participate actively in the language use decision-making process they actively influence the family language environment. Because the languages they learn in school impact the ways in which they speak at home. Moreover, we discovered that once these children have contact with the officially recognised languages in Luxembourg, which might be different from that of the family, they tend to shift their preference towards these dominant languages. In addition, we discovered that there is no standard parental communication strategy for passing the family languages on to the children. Rather, depending on the parents' objectives, they can adopt different strategies. Overall, this thesis opens new perspectives for research that investigates the family language policies of multilingual families byhighlighting the relevance of educational dimensions of children with immigrant backgrounds. / Die Relevanz der Untersuchung der Sprachenpolitik von mehrsprachigenFamilien im Großherzogtum Luxemburg gründet sich vor allem auf die vorhandene Dreisprachigkeit als einzigartiges Charakteristikum von Luxemburg, die gesellschaftliche Heterogenität, die schulischen Probleme von Kindern mit Migrationshintergrund, sowie auf die individuelle Sprachnutzung von Personen im Alltag. Das Ziel der vorliegenden Arbeit ist es daher zu untersuchen in wie fern die Geburt eines Kindes und der Austausch mit den eigenen Kindern den Sprachgebrauch von Eltern mit unterschiedlichen Herkunftssprachen beeinflusst. Ein großes Interesse galt dabei insbesondere der Untersuchung der persönlichen Motive der Eltern bezüglich der Auswahl von Sprachen und der Entwicklung dazugehöriger familiärer Kommunikationsstrategien. Zusätzlich wurde der schulische Sprachkontakt der Kinder betrachtet sowie dessen Einfluss auf den Sprachgebrauch der Kinder zuhause untersucht. Die Kombination von ethnographischen Interviews und Tonaufzeichnungen von Gesprächen der Familien zuhause ermöglichte die Gegenüberstellung des explizit angegebenen und des tatsächlichen Sprachgebrauchs von zehn Familien mit äußerst vielfältigen Sprachprofilen. Zum Zeitpunkt der Untersuchung wohnten diese Familien zwischen sieben und 42 Jahre in Luxemburg. Darüber hinaus wurde eine qualitative Inhaltsanalyse durchgeführt, um die Migrationserfahrungen beider Elternteile genauer zu beleuchten. Die Hauptgründe, welche zu einer Entwicklung einer positiven Einstellung der Eltern gegenüber Mehrsprachigkeit geführt haben, waren demnach (a) das (eigene) Erlernen der Sprachen und die Möglichkeiten zum vielfältigen Einsatz dieser Sprachen in Luxemburg sowie (b) ihr Wunsch sich das sprachliche Repertoire ihrer Kinder anzueignen. Unsere Ergebnisse deuten darauf hin, dass die Sprachen der Kinder, welche sie in der Schule gelernt haben einen Einfluss auf den familiären Sprachgebrauch haben, obwohl die Kinder keine aktive Rolle im Entscheidungsprozess bezüglich der familiären Sprachennutzung trugen. Des Weiteren konnte gezeigt werden, dass der Kontakt mit den offiziellen Sprachen in Luxemburgs Schulen dazu führte, dass Kinder eine Präferenz für diese dominanteren Sprachen entwickelten, selbst wenn die Familie eine andere Sprache spricht. Bezüglich des von denEltern initiierten Sprachenlernens konnten keine standardisierten Kommunikationsstrategien festgestellt werden. Vielmehr scheint es so, dass verschiedene Strategien in Abhängigkeit der individuellen Ziele der Eltern angepasst werden können. Insgesamt zeigt diese Arbeit neue Perspektiven zur Erforschung der familiären Sprachenpolitik in mehrsprachigen Familien auf, indem die Bedeutung der Bildungsinstitutionen in den Vordergrund gestellt wird.