This dissertation brings together aspects of writing-in-the-disciplines research, reader-response theory, and empirical reading research in an investigation of literary scholars reading poems and constructing arguments. I begin with a review of literary criticism published over the past 70 years on Donne's "The Flea," Milton's "Song: On May Morning," Hopkins' "God's Grandeur," and Eliot's "Conversation Galante." This review suggests that certain New Critical interpretive conventions persist in scholarship. In particular, literary scholars continue to read lyrics as dramatic utterances and as organic wholes. I then present findings from a think-aloud study in which English professors read the aforementioned poems and planned a hypothetical conference talk about them for the MLA conference. Reader-response theorists have argued that readers activate certain text-making conventions in order to read literature as literature. In my study, participants' disciplinary reading conventions were so deeply ingrained that their initial processing of the four poems mirrored the interpretive patterns in published criticism of those poems. Next I analyze the think-aloud data and follow-up interviews from the perspective of writing-in-the-disciplines research. Previous researchers found that scholarly literary argument relies on a limited set of special topoi and is not always directed toward the accumulation of new knowledge. The scholars in my study relied more heavily on some topoi during initial interpretation of the poems, while other topoi were used more often during argument planning. The picture of literary argument that emerges is a hybrid of ceremonial rhetoric and communal knowledge building. Finally, I analyze the think-aloud data from the vantage-point of expert/novice research in cognitive psychology. Previous researchers have used the term "generic expertise" to describe expert knowledge that all members of an academic discipline possess. Despite the belief of some within literary studies that their discipline lacks a core, participants in my study demonstrated generic expertise both in their interpretations of poems and in their argument planning. I conclude by arguing that previous descriptions of scholarly literary argument need to be revised. Literary scholars relate to their objects of study in a unique way that ensures the distinctness of literary argument. / text

Syftet med min uppsats har varit att försöka belysa vilka försvarsstrategier studenter använder sig av under en disciplinutredning, samt om dessa strategier är framgångsrika eller ej i att uppnå sitt syfte. I upptakten till mitt arbete trodde jag att jag skulle få fram analysresultat som visade på argumentation som hänvisade till ett eget lågt etos. Min hypotes var också att studenternas försvar skulle vara patostyngda. Efter att ha genomfört dokumentstudier av 18 disciplinärenden på Södertörns högskola tycks dock denna hypotes inte stämma. Verkligheten var inte så kategorisk och ”genomskinlig” som jag ville tro. Den retoriska situation ett disciplinärende bjuder verkar däremot se ut så som jag trodde; utredningen studenterna ställs inför är en tämligen stressande situation. Studenternas främsta budskap är att de är oskyldiga, och syftet med deras försvar är oftast att undgå avstängning. Anmärkningsvärt i studenternas försvar är att det är få studenter som utnyttjar de möjligheter de ges att med egna ord försvara sig. En students närvaro vid disciplinnämndens möte visade sig dock inte vara någon garanti för att undgå straff då samtliga av de fyra studenter som deltagit vid sammanträdet har avstängts. Av de studenter som har valt att yttra sig skriftligt till nämnden är det endast två av åtta som har friats. Detta torde indikera att det snarare är studenternas argument som ligger till grund för friande eller fällande dom, snarare än när och på vilket sätt detta sker. I de fall som lämnats utan vidare åtgärd har studenterna främst angett andra personer som direkt eller indirekt orsak till det som skett. Bland de studenter som funnits skyldiga till försök att vilseleda vid bedömning av studieprestation har försvarsstrategierna främst baserat sig på särskilda/förmildrande omständigheter eller ett sedan tidigare gott etos. Jag har i min analys dragit slutsatsen att det är frånvaron av rimliga och trovärdiga logosargument som har fällt avgörandet. Till skillnad från de som har friats, har ingen av de fällda studenterna kunnat uppvisa sådant logos att nämnden ansett det antingen bevisat att omständigheterna har varit sådana att studenten inte kan anses bära skuld, eller att bevisningen mot studenten inte är hållbar och att studenten därför inte kan dömas skyldig. Sammanfattningsvis kan jag då säga följande: det tycks finnas vissa försvarsstrategier som är mer framträdande än andra, men att den framgång studenten eventuellt har i fallet snarare beror på logosargument med faktisk bevisföring än på argument baserade på etos och patos.

The overall aim of this thesis is to investigate the effects of coherence in the corporate branding process. Specifically, this thesis defines and develops the concept of corporate brand coherency (CBC) using four antecedents and four dimensions, and investigates the effects of incongruence based on the advertising antecedent by manipulating ad-brand congruence. Using the Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM), the research tests whether two-sided messages aid the resolution of incongruence following central route processing and whether greater number of arguments could act as a peripheral cue. Accordingly, a conceptual model was developed to test the effects of ad-brand congruence, message sidedness and argument quantity on corporate credibility, attention and elaboration, attitude towards the ad and attitude towards the corporate brand. To empirically test this model an online experiment (using a 3x2x2 between-subjects factorial design) was conducted, where subjects were exposed to a modified print advertisement for a grocery store. A total of 528 responses were collected from New Zealand Internet users. Two- and three-way ANCOVAs as well as path analysis was used to analyse the hypothesised relationships. The results indicate support for CBC, as it was found that congruence led to positive evaluations and higher corporate credibility. Two-sided messages were not found to be effective in reducing the negative effect of incongruence. Instead, two-sided messages led to less favourable evaluations of incongruence. Regardless of the incongruence, the results show that two-sided messages did not lead to positive evaluations, while an increased number of arguments did lead to more favourable attitudes. Overall, the findings show the ELM is not applicable to explain consumers’ responses to incongruence, as incongruence was not found to affect message processing. Additionally, there was no support that message sidedness and argument quantity, respectively, acted as central and peripheral cues. Furthermore, findings indicate that incongruity in advertising can lead to positive evaluations when consumers have a negative prior brand attitude. The theoretical and managerial implications as well as directions for future research based on these findings are discussed.

According to the dominant tradition in Christianity and many other religions, human beings are both knowers and actors: beings with conscious beliefs about the world who sometimes act intentionally guided by these beliefs. According to philosopher of mind Robert Cummins the “received view” among philosophers of mind is epiphenomenalism, according to which mental causation does not exist: neural events are the underlying causes of both behavior and belief which explains the correlation (not causation) between belief and behavior. Beliefs do not, in virtue of their semantic content, enter the causal chain leading to action, beliefs are always the endpoint of a causal chain. If that is true the theological anthropology of many religious traditions is false. JP Moreland draws attention to two different ways of doing metaphysics: serious metaphysics and shopping-list metaphysics. The difference is that the former involves not only the attempt to describe  the phenomena one encounter, it also involves the attempt of locating them, that is explaining how the phenomena is possible and came to be given the constraints of a certain worldview. For a physicalist these constraints include the atomic theory of matter and the theories of physical, chemical and biological evolution.   Mental properties are challenging phenomena to locate within a physicalist worldview, and some physicalists involved in “serious metaphysics” have therefore eliminated them from their worldview. Most however accept them, advocating “non-reductive physicalism” according to which mental properties supervene on physical processes. Even if one allow mental properties to supervene on physical processes, the problem of mental causation remains. If mental properties are irreducible to and therefore distinct from physical properties, as the non-reductive physicalists claim, they cannot exert causal powers if one accepts the causal closure of the physical domain – which one must, if one is a “serious physicalist” according to physicalist philosopher of mind Jaegwon Kim.   Alvin Plantinga, in his Evolutionary Argument against Naturalism, shows that if mental properties, such as the propositional content of beliefs, are causally inefficacious, then evolution has not been selecting cognitive faculties that are reliable, in the sense of being conducive to true beliefs. If the content of our beliefs does not affect our behavior, the content of our belief is irrelevant from an evolutionary standpoint, and so the content-producing part of our cognitive faculties are irrelevant from an evolutionary standpoint. The “reliability” – truth-conduciveness – of our cognitive faculties can therefore not be explained by evolution, and therefore not located within the physicalist worldview. The only way in which the reliability of our cognitive faculties can be located is if propositional content is relevant for behavior.   If we however eliminate or deny the reliability of our cognitive faculties, then we have abandoned any chance of making a rational case for our position, as that would presuppose the reliability that we are denying. But if propositional content is causally efficacious, then that either – if we are non-reductive physicalists and mental properties are taken to be irreducible to physical properties – implies that the causal closure of the physical domain is false or - if we are reductive physicalists and not eliminativists regarding mental properties - it shows that matter qua matter can govern itself by rational argumentation, in which we have a pan-/localpsychistic view of matter. Either way, we have essentially abandoned physicalism in the process of locating the reliability of our cognitive faculties within a physicalist worldview. We have also affirmed the theological anthropology of Christianity, in so far as the capacity for knowledge and rational action is concerned. Keywords: Philosophy of mind, mental causation, reductionism, physicalism, the evolutionary argument against naturalism, the myth of nonreductive materialism, Alvin Plantinga, Jaegwon Kim

This study aimed to develop and validate a rating scale for assessing English First Additional Language essays at Grade 12 level for the final National Senior Certificate examination. The importance of writing as a communicative skill is emphasised with the re-introduction of writing as Paper 3 of the English First Additional Language examination at the end of Grade 12 in South Africa. No empirical evidence, however, is available to support claims of validity for the current rating scale. The literature on the concept of validity and the process of validation was surveyed. Theoretical models and validation frameworks were evaluated to establish a theoretical base for the development and validation of a rating scale for assessing writing. The adopted framework was used to evaluate the adequacy of the current rating scale used for assessing Grade 12 writing in South Africa. The current scale was evaluated in terms of the degree to which it offers an appropriate means of assessing Grade 12 Level essay writing while adhering to requirements of the National Curriculum Statement. It was found lacking and the need for a new, validated rating scale was established. Various approaches to scale development were considered in consideration of factors that impact scores directly, viz. the type of rating scale, rater characteristics, scoring procedures and rater training. A new scale was developed and validated following an empirical procedure comprising four phases. The empirical process was based on an analysis of actual performances of Grade 12 English learner writing. A combination of quantitative and qualitative methods was used in each of the four phases to ensure the validity of the instrument. The outcome of this project was an empirically developed and validated multiple trait rating scale to assess Grade 12 essay writing. The proposed scale distinguishes five criteria assessed by means of a seven-point scale. / Thesis (Ph.D. (English))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2009.

This study aimed to develop and validate a rating scale for assessing English First Additional Language essays at Grade 12 level for the final National Senior Certificate examination. The importance of writing as a communicative skill is emphasised with the re-introduction of writing as Paper 3 of the English First Additional Language examination at the end of Grade 12 in South Africa. No empirical evidence, however, is available to support claims of validity for the current rating scale. The literature on the concept of validity and the process of validation was surveyed. Theoretical models and validation frameworks were evaluated to establish a theoretical base for the development and validation of a rating scale for assessing writing. The adopted framework was used to evaluate the adequacy of the current rating scale used for assessing Grade 12 writing in South Africa. The current scale was evaluated in terms of the degree to which it offers an appropriate means of assessing Grade 12 Level essay writing while adhering to requirements of the National Curriculum Statement. It was found lacking and the need for a new, validated rating scale was established. Various approaches to scale development were considered in consideration of factors that impact scores directly, viz. the type of rating scale, rater characteristics, scoring procedures and rater training. A new scale was developed and validated following an empirical procedure comprising four phases. The empirical process was based on an analysis of actual performances of Grade 12 English learner writing. A combination of quantitative and qualitative methods was used in each of the four phases to ensure the validity of the instrument. The outcome of this project was an empirically developed and validated multiple trait rating scale to assess Grade 12 essay writing. The proposed scale distinguishes five criteria assessed by means of a seven-point scale. / Thesis (Ph.D. (English))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2009.

漢語的動補結構長久以來一直是漢語語言學中一個複雜難解的議題，動補結構中的論元在句法上應如何體現及其相對應的語意應如何解讀更是許多語言學家致力解決的問題。衍生語法學派 (Derivational Grammar) 的學者 (Cheng and Huang, 1994; Cheng et al, 1997; Huang, 2006, 2007; Li, 1995) 及詞彙功能語法學派 (Lexical Functional Grammar) 的學者 (Her, 2004, 2007, 2009; Shibagaki, 2009) 均曾試圖提出對於漢語動補結構最正確有效的分析，本論文旨在證明衍生語法學派之理論在動補結構分析上的錯誤及不足，並點出詞彙功能語法學派之理論在預測動補結構的論元體現 (argument realization) 及語意解讀 (semantic interpretation) 上有較全面的分析。 然而，某些動補結構，如「這一大桌子菜胖死我了」，含有不同於其他動補結構的致使義 (Causativity)，進而產生特殊的論元體現模式，此情形卻未被涵蓋在詞彙功能語法學派的理論分析中，本論文也依循詞彙功能語法的理論框架，試圖提出足以預測此種特定動補結構論元體現的句法規則，以彌補詞彙功能語法理論在分析此動補結構的論元體現上之遺漏，使其整體分析更臻完善。 / Resultative compounds in Mandarin Chinese have long been a complicated issue in Chinese linguistics. Many researchers have put great effort in trying to solve the problem of how arguments of Chinese resultative compounds should be syntactically realized and how corresponding interpretations should be achieved. Researchers of Derivational Grammar (Cheng and Huang, 1994; Cheng et al, 1997; Huang, 2006, 2007; Li, 1995) and those of Lexical Functional Grammar (Her, 2004, 2007, 2009; Shibagaki, 2009) have all attempted to propose analyses that are accurate in predicting the argument realization and compound predication of Chinese resultative compounds. This thesis aims to prove the insufficiency in the prediction power of derivational accounts and endeavors to show that the account of Lexical Functional Grammar is superior in the analysis of resultative compounds in terms of argument realization and compound interpretation. However, some resultative compounds, such as that in zhe yi da zhuozi cai pang-si wo le (‘This whole table of dishes is making me fat.’), have certain causativity that makes them different from others in terms of argument realization. Resultative compounds like these are not included in the analysis of lexicalist accounts. Based on the theoretical framework of Lexical Functional Grammar, this thesis also makes an attempt to propose a syntactic rule that predicts the correct argument realization pattern of the kind of resultative compounds mentioned above. It is the goal of this thesis that the proposed rule covers the analysis of the resultative compounds that is missing in previous accounts and makes the lexicalist account given in this thesis a better solution in working on the issues of Chinese resultative compounds.

En esta tesis se ahonda en el conocimiento que en la actualidad se posee sobre el significado de los adverbios en -mente del español. Se propone un análisis que explica los usos que puede tener un adverbio partiendo de sus propiedades semánticas. Con este fin, se analizan siete subclases de adverbios, de las que se seleccionan 84 unidades, con dos resultados principales: 1) se refinan las descripciones previas sobre el adverbio, que suelen basarse en extrapolaciones del comportamiento de las unidades prototípicas; y 2) se reconocen los rasgos semánticos característicos de cada grupo adverbial que explican el comportamiento de sus miembros. La principal novedad radica en que se analiza la vinculación entre la semántica adjetiva y la adverbial; en concreto, se examina la herencia por parte de los adverbios de la estructura argumental de sus bases adjetivas, así como el modo en que esta estructura argumental determina el uso adverbial. / This thesis is an in-depth study of the semantics of -mente adverbs in Spanish. With the goal of explaining the distribution of these adverbs on the basis of their semantic characteristics, 84 adverbs from seven subclasses were analysed, with two important results: 1) a refinement of the existing descriptions of these adverbs, largely thanks to the consideration of a wider array of data; and 2) a description of the semantic features that characterize each of the seven subclasses and predict their behavior. In particular, we get a clear picture of the relationship between the semantics of the base adjectives and the resulting adverbs, including aspects of meaning such as the inheritance of the argument structure of the adjectives by the corresponding adverbs, and the role argument structure plays in determining the adverbs' uses.

Made available in DSpace on 2015-05-14T12:43:18Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 arquivototal.pdf: 952840 bytes, checksum: 552d253bf5afddf60ebe39b7d26f63bc (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-03-11 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / Considering that the argumentation is inherent to the language and, consequently, to the discourse, we aim in this investigation to describe and analyze the argument by authority, one of the forms of polyphony of speakers, and the discursive modal verbs functioning as argumentative strategies in the genre Research Project of TCC. This is a genre of academic circulation and objectives to introduce undergraduate students in the sphere of scientific research. As theoretical approach we used the postulations of Ducrot (1987; 1988; 1997); Koch (2011), Nascimento and Silva (2012), Cervoni (1989) and Castilho and Castilho (1993); Bakhtin (2010), among others. The analysis of argument by authority and the modalization in the referred genre happen not only by the recurrence of these strategies, but also because we aim to observe how these two phenomena occur, concurrently, from the citations, in direct and indirect style, indicating the argumentation in the statements. This is a descriptive and interpretativist study, which corpus is constituted by sixteen (16) Research Projects of TCC: eight (8) from the Course of Licenciatura em Letras and the other eight (8) from the Bachelor Course of Secretariado Executivo Bilíngue. This research showed, during the analyzed corpus, that there is no difference in the speaker‟s commitment responsible for the text (L1) in relation to the discourse presented on direct and indirect style, in the genre Research Project of TCC. Independent of the employed style, L1 compromises with the discourse of the other speakers by presenting them in the form of argument by authority. Furthermore, the arguments by authority appear in concomitance with three different types of modal verbs: asseveratives; almost-asseveratives; evaluatives, with which L1 places in different way before the discourse of other speakers. Further, we verified the occurrence of arguments introduced by no modal terms. In the face of these, L1 only get compromised, but do not get responsible by the discourse of the other, and neither judjes him. Based on these evidences, we could verify that the Research Project of TCC is a polyphonic genre, rich in argumentative strategies. / Considerando que a argumentatividade é inerente à língua e, consequentemente, ao discurso, objetivamos nesta investigação descrever e analisar o arrazoado por autoridade, uma das formas de polifonia de locutores, e os modalizadores discursivos funcionando como estratégias argumentativas no gênero Projeto de Pesquisa de TCC. Este é um gênero de circulação acadêmica e tem por finalidade introduzir os alunos graduandos na esfera da pesquisa científica. Como pressupostos teóricos, utilizamos os postulados de Ducrot (1987; 1988; 1997); Koch (2011), Nascimento e Silva (2012), Cervoni (1989) e Castilho e Castilho (2002); Bakhtin (2010), dentre outros. A análise do arrazoado por autoridade e da modalização no gênero em questão se dá não somente pela recorrência dessas estratégias, mas também porque objetivamos, entre outras coisas, observar como esses dois fenômenos ocorrem, concomitantemente, a partir das citações, em estilo direto e indireto, indicando argumentatividade nos enunciados. Este é um estudo de caráter descritivo e interpretativista, cujo corpus é constituído por dezesseis (16) Projetos de Pesquisa de TCC: oito (8) do curso de Licenciatura em Letras e os outros oito (8) do curso Bacharelado em Secretariado Executivo Bilíngue. Esta pesquisa mostrou, ao longo do corpus analisado, que não há diferença de comprometimento do locutor responsável pelo texto (L1) em relação ao discurso apresentado em estilo direto e indireto, no gênero Projeto de Pesquisa de TCC. Independente do estilo empregado, L1 se compromete com o discurso dos demais locutores por apresentá-los em forma de arrazoado por autoridade. Além disso, os arrazoados por autoridade aparecem em concomitância com três diferentes tipos de modalizadores: asseverativos; quase-asseverativos; avaliativos, com os quais L1 se posta de maneira diferente perante o discurso dos outros locutores. No mais, verificamos a ocorrência de arrazoados introduzidos por termos não modalizadores. Diante destes, L1 apenas se compromete, não se responsabiliza pelo discurso do outro, nem o julga. A partir destas constatações, pudemos verificar que o Projeto de Pesquisa de TCC é um gênero polifônico, rico em estratégias argumentativas.

L'objectif de cette thèse est d'introduire la grammaire générative dans l'étude philosophique de la signification linguistique des langues naturelles, tout en l'articulant à une théorie contextualiste du sens. Nous montrerons d'abord en quoi les procédures syntaxiques sont autonomes de toute contrainte sémantique externe (thèse d'autonomie de la syntaxe), tout en contraignant la construction du sens linguistique (thèse du syntactocentrisme). Nous montrerons également qu'un filtrage contextuel des expressions grammaticales mais pas utilisables s'opère à un niveau post-syntaxique sur le résultat des dérivations syntaxiques. Dans un deuxième temps, nous montrerons que la syntaxe détermine la structure de la signification. Nous commencerons par critiquer les conceptions lexicalistes, selon lesquelles la structure de la signification dérive d'informations contenues dans les items lexicaux. Puis nous montrerons que les formes sémantiques des expressions sont des structures événementielles dont chaque élément correspond strictement à un élément de la structure syntaxique. Dans un troisième temps, nous montrerons que tandis que la structure interprétative est rigidement déterminée par la structure syntaxique, le contenu des termes mobilisés dans les expressions est quant à lui le résultat d'une interaction entre contenu conceptuel, structure syntaxique et filtrage contextuel. Cela s'accompagnera d'une conception des concepts comme entrées encyclopédiques comportant une multiplicité d'informations sur lesquelles s'opère une sélection locale de l'information pertinente en fonction du contexte. / The goal of this dissertation is to introduce generative grammar into the philosophical study of linguistic meaning in natural languages, while articulating it with a contextualist theory of meaning. First, we will show that syntactic procedures are autonomous from any external semantic constraints (autonomy of syntax thesis) while constraining the construction of linguistic meaning (syntactocentrism thesis). We will also show that the results of syntactic derivations that are grammatical but not usable are contextually filtered out at a post-syntactic stage. In a second part, we will show that syntax determines the structure of meaning. We will start by criticizing the lexicalist conceptions accordinf to which the structure of meaning derives from data included in lexical items. Then we will show that the semantic forms of expressions are event structures of which each element strictly corresponds to an element in syntactic structure. In a third part, we will show that while interpretive structure is rigidly determined by syntactic structure, the content of terms used in expressions is the result of an interaction involving conceptual content, syntactic structure and contextual filtering. This entails a conception of concepts as encyclopedic entries made up of a multiplicity of data on which a local selection of contextually relevant information operates.