The study adopts a systemic functional perspectives and focuses on an analysis of Theme in three workplace text types: memos, letters and reports. The aim of the study is to investigate the function performed by Theme in these texts. The study diverges from Halliday’s identification of Theme and argues that the Subject is an obligatory part of Theme. In examining the function Theme performs, specific features such as the relationship between Theme and genre and between Theme and interpersonal meaning are explored. The study investigates the linguistic realisations in the texts which help understand the way in which the choice of Theme is related to, and perhaps constrained by, the genre. In addition, the linguistic resources used by the writer to construe interpersonal meanings through their choice of Theme are explored. The study investigates Theme from two distinct positions. Firstly a lexico-grammatical analysis of thematic choices in the texts is undertaken. Secondly, the study draws upon informant interpretations and considers the way in which certain thematic choices construe different meanings for different types of reader. The methodology adopted is twofold: an analysis of Theme in a corpus of authentic workplace texts comprised of 30 memos, 22 letters and 10 reports; and an analysis of informant interpretations drawn from focus group interviews with 12 business people and 15 EFL teachers. In both sets of data, Theme is scrutinised with respect to textual, interpersonal, topical and marked themes and the meanings construed through such choices. The findings show that Theme plays an important role in organising the text, as well as in realising ideational and interpersonal meaning. In particular the findings demonstrate that marked Theme, or the term adopted in the present study, ‘extended Theme’, performs a crucial role in representing the workplace as a depersonalised, material world.

English language, which does not have a precedent in the respect that it is used by such a variety of speakers with so many different first languages in such a wide range of contexts across the world, has served to make the complex nature of language more visible to us. Given such an opportunity, a considerable amount of research has been devoted to the description and analysis of what people do with this global lingua franca (i.e. people’s language practices, performances, and consequential linguistic variation and change). However, on the other hand, little research has approached what people say about this global phenomenon. Given this gap, this PhD thesis explores the ways people think, talk about and make sense of English, language, communication, and various other issues and concepts surrounding this area of global language practices, since the nature of language cannot be fully understood from observation and description of actual language use alone. It is for this purpose that this thesis begins by engaging with academic theories of, approaches to, and research on English in a global context and language ideologies. Such conceptual understanding underpins the approaches taken in this research, which specifically explored East Asian English users’ ideas of and beliefs about English and language through a questionnaire survey and qualitative in-depth interviews. Explorations and discussions of the findings of this study emphasise the point that what is accessible in people’s talk on language is emphatically not only their ideas of English or language at face value. People’s micro-level everyday practices and macro-level social expectations and norms are merged and condensed into their accounts on language through their interpretive filters, which is an invaluable source that help linguists have a better understanding of language both as a practice and concept. These insights pose critical questions for language attitude research and add deeper considerations to discussions of language(s) and language users in the field of English as a lingua franca.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-08-29T15:32:53Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 tese_4905_DISSERTAÇÃO Marcela G Ferreira - IMPRESSÃO 2 - PDF 2.pdf: 4143871 bytes, checksum: ed1f902dd2d1ee7ad94bef5ab9cc5743 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2010-12-20 / Diversos processos de reparo por atrito estão sendo estudados atualmente, dentre os quais se destaca o recobrimento por atrito ou, em inglês, Friction Surfacing. Esta técnica consiste na deposição do material de um pino em uma chapa ou substrato através de altas rotações e altas cargas axiais no pino, com um deslocamento horizontal do substrato. Durante o trabalho buscou-se caracterizar o revestimento depositado por atrito, através de ensaios de corrosão, jato de impingimento e análise microestrutural através de Microscopia Eletrônica de Varredura e Microscopia Óptica. Para isso, utilizou-se um equipamento do Laboratório de Técnicas em Atrito e Desgaste da Universidade Federal de Uberlândia, a Unidade de Processamento de Pinos por Atrito (UPPA), capaz de realizar reparos por atrito, dentre eles ensaios de preenchimento (FHPP), o qual foi modificado e implementado um sistema de controle de uma plataforma, possibilitando assim a realização dos ensaios de recobrimento com aço AISI 420, onde são fornecidos ao programa de controle os parâmetros de reparo. Entre as vantagens desse processo destacam-se a excelente união metalúrgica entre o recobrimento e o substrato, associada a uma microestrutura refinada. Através dessa técnica, pode-se então aplicar diferentes tipos de materiais sobre substratos, resultando em incrementos na resistência à corrosão e/ou desgaste. Como material base foi utilizado um aço carbono e como material de deposição foi utilizado o aço inoxidável martensítico AISI 420. O objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar os efeitos da variação dos principais parâmetros de processo no revestimento, por meio da avaliação da microestrutura, espessura da camada revestida, microdureza e avaliação da resistência à corrosão quando submetido a testes de Corrosão estática e Jato de impingimento. Os resultados mostraram que houve um refino de grão na zona afetada pelo calor, aumentando assim a sua dureza. Finalmente, da análise do revestimento obtiveram-se resultados de desgaste e resistência à corrosão satisfatória, quando comparado ao material utilizado como revestimento. Palavras-chave: Revestimento por atrito, erosão, corrosão, AISI 420.

This thesis is a study of an engage, study, activate (ESA) lesson of teaching modals of present deduction. The lesson has been taken from a published English language teaching course book and is typical of the way modal forms are presented to teach epistemic modality in many commercially produced English language teaching course books. I argue that for cognitive, social, linguistic and procedural reasons the linguistic forms and structures presented in the lesson are not straightforwardly transferred to the activate stage of the lesson. Using insights from spoken language corpora I carry out a comparative analysis with the modal forms presented in the course book. I then explore the notion of ‘context’ and drawing on systemic functional grammar discuss how modal forms function in discourse to realise interpersonal relations. Moving my research to the English language classroom I collect ethnographic classroom data and using social semiotic multimodality as an analytical framework I explore learner interaction to uncover the communicative resources learners use to express epistemic modality in a discussion activity from the same lesson. My analysis reveals that the modal structures in the course book differ to some extent from spoken language corpora. It shows that the course book offers no instruction on the interpersonal dimension of modality and thus how speakers use signals of modality to position themselves interpersonally vis-à-vis their interlocutors. The data collected from the English language class reveals that during the lesson learners communicate modality through modes of communication such as eye gaze, gesture and posture in addition to spoken language. Again drawing from systemic functional grammar I explain how these modes have the potential to express interpersonal meaning and thus highlight that meaning is communicated through modal ensembles. Based on these findings I propose a number of teaching strategies to raise awareness of the interpersonal function of modality in multimodal discourse, and for the use of language corpora to better inform teaching materials on selections of modality.

El interés por los tratamientos térmicos de criogenia se ha ido incrementando notablemente en los últimos años, gracias al potencial que tienen de generar mejoras significativas en la resistencia al desgaste en numerosos tipos de materiales, especialmente en aceros para herramientas y matricería, de manera sencilla y con un bajo costo asociado. En la presente tesis doctoral se aborda el estudio de los efectos de la aplicación de distintos tratamientos de criogenia en un acero inoxidable martensítico AISI 420 de bajo contenido de carbono. Para ello se evaluaron los cambios microestructurales mediante técnicas de microscopía óptica y electrónica de barrido y de transmisión, así como también las modificaciones en la dureza del material, en su resistencia al desgaste a través de ensayos de deslizamiento lubricados y en atmósfera inerte y su comportamiento a la fractura, empleando ensayos normalizados de tenacidad al impacto y de tenacidad a la fractura. Finalmente, se evaluó la resistencia a la corrosión electroquímica del material tratado de manera convencional y con criogenia. A partir de los resultados obtenidos, pudo concluirse que los tratamientos de criogenia generan una disminución en el tamaño de los carburos, los cuales además se encuentran distribuídos en el volumen del material de manera más uniforme. A este cambio microestructural se le atribuye el incremento de dureza, de resistencia al desgaste y de tenacidad a la fractura observado en los especímenes tratados criogénicamente, mientras que la resistencia a la corrosión no fue modificada por la aplicación de dichos tratamientos. La modificación de las propiedades mecánicas no involucró la transformación de austenita retenida, lo que representa una contribución a la comprensión de los efectos metalúrgicos de los tratamientos criogénicos y refuerza la tendencia de aplicarlos en aceros de baja aleación e incluso en materiales no ferrosos. / The interest for cryogenic treatments has been increasing in the last years, due to their potential for improving wear resistance in many types of materials, especially in tool and die steels, in a simple and economic way. The present doctoral thesis addresses the effects of the application of cryogenic treatments on an AISI 420 low carbon martensitic stainless steel. In order to do so, the microstructural modifications were evaluated using optical, scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy. Hardness was measured at macro and nano scales, while its wear resistance was tested by means of sliding tests in lubricated and inert conditions. The fracture behavior was analyzed through impact and fracture toughness tests. Additionally, the corrosion resistance of the material was evaluated using electrochemical methods. From the obtained results, it could be concluded that cryogenic treatments reduce the size of carbides and generate a more uniform volumetric distribution of them in the metallic matrix. Therefore, the hardness, wear resistance and fracture toughness increases found in cryogenically treated specimens can be attributed to this microstructural modification. The corrosion resistance of the material remained unchanged after the application of the cryogenic treatments. The modification in the mechanical properties did not involve the transformation of retained austenite into martensite, which contributes to the understanding of the metallurgical effects of the cryogenic treatments and strengthens the tendency to apply them in low alloy steels and even in non-ferrous materials.