Essay writing is one of the major academic practices that students are expected to master and display. As there is a paucity of information on the nature of sociocultural influence on second language education in the Limpopo Province of South Africa, this study attempts to contribute to knowledge on writing, in general, and on argument writing, in particular in the sociocultural context of the Vhembe District. The central premise for this study is that the way an environment constrains second language learners or frees them to explore and to learn is constituted by sociocultural factors and this includes pedagogical processes. In sociocultural theory, the argument is that to truly understand the human condition, there is a need to analyse and interpret it within the relevant social, cultural and historical context. This is because a learner’s cognitive, language and academic development are strongly influenced by the sociocultural context in which they live and learn and the effect could be either negative or positive. This is because the identity of a learner is constructed in subtle ways that align an individual’s aspirations with societal goals. In this alignment, learning is performance based, and it also functions as a self-check mechanism in which written discourse illuminates relations, such as the ones between discourse and value systems, which are transmitted through the education system. This study attempts to understand and explain second language writing within the Vhembe sociocultural context. Such understanding has emanated from abstractions from experience, the exploration of the literature reviewed for the purpose, and from the evaluation and interpretation of the students’ engagement in the samples, which have been included in the appendices. The students’ performance in writing was taken as an illustration of sociocultural influences. Using document analysis, observations and abstractions, the study found that students are not proficient in writing in general, because of sociocultural parameters, such as collectivism, weak uncertainty avoidance, a restricted code background, a culture of conserving knowledge, lack of discursive interaction, content orientation and first language literacy. Pedagogy also has an influence on competence, because of the way writing is approached in the learning/teaching situations. Learners seem to have a limited capacity in constructing sentences in the correct tense, use of both metadiscourse and cohesive devices. The study indicates the need to consider learners’ social identity as well as their environment as a way of illustrating the complexity and pertinence of socioculture. This recognition has been given assent through the intervention strategies that are explored and built into the recommendation. The recommendation is that the natural context in which the learners are immersed should be given clarity and should be explored in the English lesson. In this regard, intervention approaches and strategies for learner activities are based on this schema and on collaboration between facilitators of English language learning and content and Mother Tongue facilitators. / Thesis (DLitt (English))--University of Pretoria, 2006. / English / unrestricted

Bakgrund: Ökat tryck från omvärlden har bidragit till att allt fler företag tillämpar och kommunicerar sitt samhällsansvar (CSR) inom de ekonomiska, miljömässiga och sociala aspekterna för att kunna tillfredsställa sina intressenter. Störst fokus i praktiken hamnar dock på den externa kommunikationen av CSR-arbetet och mindre engagemang läggs på den interna kommunikationen. Detta bidrar till att de anställda utelämnas trots att de bedriver den direkta kommunikationen med kunderna som är den värdefullaste intressenten för företagens framgång. Syfte: Uppsatsen syftar i att skapa en ökad förståelse för hur den interna kommunikationen fungerar mellan ledning och butiksnivå gällande budskap och arbete kring CSR inom ett modeföretag. Uppsatsen avser även att utreda om det förekommer brister i den interna kommunikationen angående CSR-arbetet. Frågeställning: Hur fungerar den interna kommunikationen kring CSR-arbetet inom ett modeföretag? Metod: Induktiv ansats med ett kvalitativt tillvägagångssätt i form av fem intervjuer med personer på olika nivåer inom organisationen. Slutsats: Uppsatsens resultat finner ett mönster som genererar iii-modellen där den centrala delen hamnar på butikschefernas roll, hur pass involverade, informerade och intresserade de är av företagets CSR-arbete. Butiksanställda tenderar till att påverkas av och anamma samma beteende som butikscheferna vilket avgör vilken roll de antar som CSR-kommunikatörer ut mot företagens viktigaste intressenter, kunderna. Studien påvisar att modeföretaget behöver förbättra sin interna kommunikationsprocess för attde butiksanställda ska kunna agera CSR-kommunikatörer.

This thesis consists of six publications presenting a theoretical framework, a methodological proposal and three empirical studies. The aim of the work is; to gain knowledge on how children with severe multiple disabilities communicate with their caregivers, to analyse how different research strategies can add knowledge from different perspectives on communication, and to develop models for analysing and describing the dyadic interaction. The theoretical framework addresses the impact of multiple disabilities on the child’s communicative development, as well as the role of the communication partner, and implications for interventions. In the methodological framework, different research approaches are discussed and a system theory-based approach is proposed. The empirical studies are focused on pre-school children with intellectual disabilities in combination with vision disability and/or motor disability. When relationships between use of communication and child characteristics and setting conditions were investigated, the results showed relationships between disability and the use of communication but also that children with similar disability profiles could display quite different communicative patterns. When the communicative process was investigated with the proposed system theory-based approach, it was found that the child and caregiver continuously co-regulated their actions and together created consensual frames and that the process went through phases of instability and stability. Models for a system theory-based analysis of dyadic interaction are presented. The discussion is concentrated around how the results from the studies along with the theoretical aspects can contribute to evidence-based practice. The main conclusions are that, in communication involving a person with severe multiple disabilities, meaning is something that is co-constructed and communication cannot be regarded as a personal competence, the competence is within the dyad.

The study aims to see whether there are differences in the nature and patterns of computer usage for communicating research between disciplines in the social sciences in Brazil and, if so, whether they can be related to factors which can affect the process of communication. The theory embedded in the research model states that pressures that accompany the introduction of information technologies into a university environment are significant factors in the use of such technologies. These pressures produce differences in the communication process itself. Furthermore, there may also be a relationship between individual factors and the use of IT for communication. The research data were collected via a survey using two instruments. Firstly, mailed questionnaires were sent to 760 academic researchers in sociology and economics in Brazil, working in post-graduate programmes. A response rate of 64.1 percent was achieved. Secondly, 36 interviews were carried out with a sample of the most productive researchers in the two subjects studied. The interview sample included both respondents and non-respondents to the questionnaire. A small sample of 1I British academic researchers was included in the interview survey, in order to allow comparisons and see whether Brazilian academics lag behind IT front-runners. Data collected revealed that there is an impact of computer usage on the scholarly communication process, especially in terms of informal communication. Such an impact can be related to changes in the social interactions that underlie knowledge creation among researchers, and also relates to differences in patterns and processes of computer usage between the chosen disciplines. Formal communication has experienced a gradually growing impact by electronic media on the well-established print environment, with the likely co-existence of the two media for some time to come. The results obtained showed that Brazilian researchers do not lag behind the British ones. Not many differences, but most similarities were found between economists and sociologists in both Brazil and the UK.

This study examines the process of theatrical direction as a communication system. Its components are described in terms of their function as elements of a communication process. The communication activities within the theatrical process are analyzed by means of four categories of theatrical communication networks: conceptual, aesthetic, observational, and social. Theories of communication have been surveyed and then applied to the theatrical process. Particular attention is paid to role functions of the director within the social and the aesthetic networks. The conclusion reached in the study is that the effectiveness of the communication networks used in theatrical directing is determined by the functional roles and the leadership styles adopted by the director as he participates in these networks.

The development of communication technology has also created new structures, able to challenge the traditional power roles of the communicative process. Social media have become a fruitful arena of this change due to their users having the possibility to respond to the producers’ messages. Thus, the traditional lineal structure turns to an interactional one and consequently, the lines become blurred between the roles of the dominant and dominated as assumed by the senders/producers and the receivers respectively. Controversial issues shed light on this ‘battle for power’, such as the sustainability actions and reporting of Zara and H&M. These companies are the leaders of the fast fashion industry; one of the most ‘unsustainable’ fields. Through a critical discourse analysis of the posts that the companies launch on their Facebook-sponsored accounts as well as the comments related to sustainability that they obtain from their users, the communicative process occurring in social media can be assessed. The aim of this analysis is to provide an insight into how the communicative process between sender and receiver in social media creates public opinion and affects the development of sustainability discourse. It has been shown that users have found in social media a powerful tool to challenge the companies’ power: they can comment on the informative product in question. Also the users have taken the sustainability discourse as the required ‘object’ when questioning a product’s reliability. The latter is in some way another means with which to challenge the companies’ power.

Como pode funcionar uma linguagem tão problemática quanto a da publicidade? Foi baseada nesta curiosidade que nasceu esta pesquisa. A partir da percepção da presença do que chamou \"caracteres negativos do Discurso Publicitário\", engendrou-se uma investigação acerca das possibilidades de sentido desta Forma Discursiva. Constatou-se aí a presença de uma série de aspectos crítico-negativos, identificados como (1) A Dissonância de Voz; (2) o Caráter Hiperbólico do Discurso; (3) o Engajamento Improvável na Mensagem Publicitária; (4) As Palavras Fantasmas; (5) o Lastro Duvidoso e as Afirmações Capciosas; (6) a Incoerência, ou Esquizofrenia; (7) a Não Negatividade; e, por fim, (8), o Desvio da Materialidade. Todos estes caracteres teriam a potencialidade de funcionar como protuberâncias de sentido perceptíveis no Discurso Publicitário (DP), sendo capazes de desviar a leitura da mensagem para outras superfícies comunicativas. Este desvio teria funcionamento semelhante ao que poderia se chamar \"pacto fiduciário de leitura da propaganda\", ou o fato de o captador desta mensagem saber \"lê-la\" em níveis paralelos aos da mensagem exposta, como, por exemplo, o da \"imagética\" e do imaginário. A partir da identificação de três superfícies e seus nove subníveis, esta pesquisa procurou organizar a dinâmica comunicativa do DP, a qual chamou de Processo de Percepção e Produção do Sentido (PPS). Sugere que o captador da mensagem (termo alternativo a \"receptor\") tenha papel ativo não só na construção, mas na percepção de sentidos \"além? e \"aquém? do que é exposto, sendo capaz de identificar importantes signos no que se chamou a Forma da mensagem inserida num Contexto. São conceituadas aí, portanto, as Superfícies Expressiva, Formal e Contextual da publicidade, ao redor das quais se organizará todo o trabalho. O referencial adotado para construção destas teorias mescla algumas das principais correntes de análise da comunicação: a Teoria da Enunciação; a Análise do Discurso; a Semiótica Peirceana; a Semiótica \"Francesa\"; a Psicologia Social; e as Teorias Cognitivas. Foram selecionadas 154 (cento e cinqüenta e quatro) peças publicitárias para análise, divididas num corpus exploratório e outro confirmatório, este último voltado a validar as primeiras descobertas. Ao final, analisaram-se mais 10 (dez) peças publicitárias nas quais se investigou a interação de sentido entre as nove superfícies. Conclui-se que os caracteres negativos anteriormente identificados podem ser capazes de desviar a expressividade da mensagem para outras superfícies, dando origem ao que se chamou Efeito Secundário na Comunicação Publicitária, ou seja, o fato de surgirem novas \"protuberâncias\" de sentido (principalmente críticas), que são percebidas de forma consciente (durante processamento cognitivo controlado da mensagem) ou não (processamento automático da mensagem). Este desvio tornaria a mensagem publicitária menos \"expressiva\" e mais dependente da \"imagética\", do imaginário e de seus caracteres ontológicos, o que, por sua vez, poderia comprometer a ação de seu discurso a longo prazo. Defende-se, assim, o argumento de que a propaganda é um discurso \"presentificista\", voltado unicamente ao tempo presente, ideia que encontrou eco em algumas correntes de pensamento crítico acerca da comunicação, como as de Dominique Quessada e Lucien Sfez. / How can such a problematic Discourse like advertising work? This research was born based on this question. Perceiving the presence of what it called the -negative Advertising Discourse characters?, it engendered an investigation about the signification possibilities of this Discursive Form. A series of critics and negative aspects were then identified, such as: the (1) -Advertising Voice Dissonance?; (2) the -Hyperbolic Discourse?; the (3) -Non Probable Engagement?; (4) -The Phantom Words?; (5) The Doubtful Ballast and Misleading Statements?; (6) -The Discourse Incoherence or Schizophrenia?; (7) the -One Sidedness? Message; (8) the -Materiality Deviation?. All of these characters would have the probability of working as perceptible -protuberances? of meaning, being capable of turning the message semeiosis to other communicative surfaces. This deviation would have a similar action to what could be called the -advertising fiduciary reading pact?, or the fact that the -catcher? of this message knows how to read it in levels which are parallels to the exposed message, such as, the -imagetic? or -socio-discursive imaginary? ones. From the identification of three Surfaces and its nine sublevels, this research intended to organize the communicative dynamics of the Advertising Discourse (AD), named Significance Perception and Production Process. It suggests that the message -catcher? (alternative term to -message receiver?), would have an active role not only in constructing, but perceiving the meanings which are also beyond or beneath the exposed message, for he is capable of identifying important signs in what was called the -message Format in a Context?. The Advertising Contextual, Formal and Expressive Surfaces are then conceptualized, being all the work organized around them. The theoretical frame adopted for these conceptualizations merges some of the main communication analysis streams: The Enunciation Theory; the Discourse Analysis; the Charles Sanders Peirce\'s Semiotics; the French Semiotics; the Social Psychology; and the Cognitive Theories. One hundred and fifty-four (154) advertising messages were selected to be analyzed, integrating an exploratory corpus and a confirmatory one (the latter aimed to validate the findings from the further research). In the last chapter, more ten ads were analyzed, in which the significance interaction between the nine indentified surfaces were investigated. It was possible to conclude that the negative characters lately identified were able to deviate the message expressivity to other surfaces that not the primary or central one, originating what was called the -Secondary Effect in Advertising Communication?, or the fact that new significance protuberances (mainly the critic ones) could be perceived in a high evolvement cognitive scenario or a low evolvement one. This deviation could make the advertising claims less expressive, relying its communicative effectiveness in the -imagetics?, the -imaginary? and what was called its -ontological? characters, which, in turn, could compromise the efficiency of this discourse in the long run. Therefore, the research could defend the argument of Advertising as a -Presentificist Discourse?, or being directed solely to the present time: an idea that encountered echo in some critical works in communication, such as Dominique Quessada\'s and Lucien Sfez\'.

Esta pesquisa tem como objetivo compreender as estratégias de produção de funk e seu consumo por jovens mulheres de classe popular da cidade de Porto Alegre. Para isso, nos aproximamos da perspectiva dos Estudos Culturais britânicos e latino-americanos, sobretudo a partir do pensamento de Martín-Barbero, bem como tensionamos nossas discussões a partir das teorias sobre cena musical, classe, gênero e geração. Nos filiamos à metodologia qualitativa de pesquisa, realizando entrevistas, observações em bailes funk, pesquisa documental e pesquisa bibliográfica. Como unidade de estudo, contemplamos cinco MCs, três produtores e oito consumidoras de funk (funkeiras) da cidade de Porto Alegre. A fim de apresentar o contexto da cena funk, realizamos uma retomada histórica da cena no Brasil e especificamente em Porto Alegre, bem como traçamos o panorama midiático da cena na mídia massiva entre 2000 e 2015. Em relação aos resultados, identificamos que as estratégias de produção são materializadas através da construção de uma autopromoção midiática no rádio e no ambiente online através de postagens nas redes sociais digitais. Estas postagens podem se relacionar a uma clara estratégia de autopromoção, bem como podem dizer respeito a ocasiões descoladas da cena funk, retratando momentos aleatórios de seu cotidiano. No que diz respeito ao consumo, é visto que as práticas navegam entre dois meios: rádio e internet. Porém os usos efetivados nas plataformas digitais favorecem uma ampla gama de oportunidades para o consumo, contribuindo para a ocorrência de múltiplas lógicas de usos em relação ao consumo de funk. Tanto na produção, quanto no consumo, as relações de gênero ganham ênfase por um posicionamento de inspiração feminista por parte das informantes, ainda que a adesão ao movimento político seja algo evitado ou repreendido por algumas delas. / This research aims to comprehend the strategies of production of funk music and its consumption by young women from Porto Alegre’s popular class. In order to reach such aim, we have approached the British and Latin-American Cultural Studies perspective, mostly through Martin-Barbero’s thought, and our discussions were also based on the theories about music scene, class, gender and generation. We made use of the qualitative methodology research through interviews, observations on baile funk, documental research and bibliographic research. As a study unit, we take into consideration five MCs, three producers and funk music eight consumers (also known in Brazil as funkeiras). In order to present the context of the funk scene, we have traced a historical outline of the scene in Brazil and specifically in Porto Alegre, as well as we have delineated a media overview of the scene on the mass media between 2000 and 2015. Regarding the results, we identify that the strategies of production are materialized through the building of a media self-promotion on the radio and on the online environment through posts on social networks. These posts can relate to a clear self-promotion strategy, as well as they can be about situations unrelated to the funk scene, portraying random moments of their everyday life. On the subject of consumption, it can be seen that the practices navigate between two medias: radio and internet. However, the uses performed on digital platforms favour a wide range of opportunities to the consumption, contributing to the occurrence of multiple logics of use in relation to the consumption of funk. In both production and consumption, the relations of gender are emphasized through a positioning of feminist inspiration, although the adhesion to the political movement is something avoided or reproached by some of them.

This dissertation brings attention to the communication processes taking place during design of an Idea Zone at a science center. It focuses on the conceptual phase of design, during which designers seek to integrate the ideas and needs of stakeholders into design processes through such frameworks as Participatory Design (PD). In bringing a focus on communication process to conceptual design frameworks such as PD, I explore the assumed roles behind participatory design processes and the contexts created through those processes during actual design work. As these Idea Zone design efforts took place in a museum and also within the context of an ongoing action research program there, I explored the organizational challenges of cultivating spaces and conversations where designers, community members, researchers, and other participants cooperatively explored contexts and spaces for jointly designing together. A central assertion of this work is that the World Café, a designed discussion format, fits with the needs of a science center for inviting community participation in design processes. A related goal of this work was to test that assertion not as a success or failure but as an emergent and contingent process requiring changes and course adjustments through reflective practice. To do this, my central method was an ethnographic engagement in the spirit of action research where with the Museum of Science and Industry (MOSI) in Tampa, Florida I planned for and hosted a series of World Cafés revolving around design of an Idea Zone in the science center. Café participants included MOSI leadership and board members, designers, community members, University of South Florida (USF) students, museum staff, and other stakeholders. Data sources from the World Café included the Café planning efforts, conversations and other data generated during the Cafés themselves, as well as organizational outcomes from hosting the Cafés. Outcomes in this sense might include, for example, the potential for future Cafés around design of the Idea Zone or how what is learned in the Café becomes integrated into other Idea Zone design processes or everyday organizational contexts such as meetings at MOSI. In addition to the Café and as part of understanding Café outcomes, I also drew from data generated through follow-up interviews I conducted with Café participants including designers, community members, and others. Finally, I drew upon ethnographic data generated through my observations and interactions within the Idea Zone and the larger scene of MOSI, ranging from everyday conversations with museum visitors to the possibility of performances in the space. With this research we (MOSI, the MOSI community, and I) learned together 1) how assumptions and issues of participation play out during group communication processes in the conceptual phase of design, 2) about ways of engaging in ethically challenging work of designing group communication processes for design, 3) how generative metaphors for the group communication process might emerge from the World Café that foster flexible and inviting space for participatory design, and 4) how each of these local questions related to designing communication for design of the Idea Zone play out within the larger organizational context of MOSI specifically and science centers more broadly. Key outcomes from these four research questions include practical contributions to design for learning spaces in MOSI, how the World Café fits with Participatory Design processes at a science center and also potential redesigns for the future, how the World Café metaphor became a way to rapidly prototype new museum experiences, and how democratic invitations offered by MOSI to the community brought about creative possibilities for community design of the Idea Zone and for staff to engage in designing MOSI's broader organizational processes of change.

<p>Title: Advertising message and Customer Satisfaction A case of Lidl Sweden</p><p>Problem: “Are the customers satisfied when they compare marketing message with services provided by Lidl grocery store?”</p><p>Purpose: We aim to analyze the satisfaction level of customers at Lidl store and how</p><p>effective messages delivered in the advertisement.</p><p>Method: We used a primary research through the interviews of the managers in Lidl, and</p><p>a survey questionnaire by the customers. We also used the secondary data from</p><p>the website of Lidl and some qualitative information from textbooks and</p><p>different sources.</p><p>Conclusion: After the research, we conclude that the advertising messages of Lidl is clear</p><p>and most of the customers feel satisfied with price and the quality of Lidl’s</p><p>products. However, about the non-food products, the customers do not feel so</p><p>pleasant and they do not have much knowledge about after sale services.</p>