People often create novel lexical expressions to efficiently communicate their thoughts to others. Noun-noun phrases, also known as conceptual combinations, serve as an example of these novel expressions. Most of the research on conceptual combination has focused on structural features of the phrases. However, other research has demonstrated that discourse context can also influence how these phrases are interpreted. Across two experiments, we demonstrate that discourse context has a greater influence on how people interpret these combinations than does a structural level manipulation. We also examine the strength of this contextually based-effect over a series of time delays. The findings from this study indicate that, while structural features of a given conceptual combination influence how that combination is interpreted, the discourse surrounding the novel combination plays a more influential role in the resulting interpretation. The influence of context is more pronounced than has been suggested in much of the research on conceptual combination.

Cambodia has a strong presence of international donor agencies and expatriate development practitioners. The role of international donors in making government increasingly gender responsive is believed to be immense. This thesis contends that most expatriate and Cambodian development practitioners have different perceptions on the issue due to cultural influences. Due to these differences sometimes there emerge incongruence in the approach (that is often determined by international players) and the beliefs of most national practitioners who are responsible to implement these approaches. The problem of domestic violence is used as a case in point to demonstrate this incongruence. The thesis argues that the differences in views do not get discussed and thereafter resolved because the communication processes being followed are not open and dialogical in nature. It suggests that there are two primary reasons that come in the way of dialogic communication. One is related to the hierarchically different positions that expatriates and Cambodian practitioners occupy in the context of development work. The other is related to the difference in the perceptions of the practitioners depending on their degree of connectedness with the cultural setting. The thesis concludes that there is a need for introspection by the development practitioners for the reasons that may lie within them and their organizations for this communication gap. This is essential for initiating communication processes that are open so that the development practitioners may begin to arrive at common understanding as well as trusting relationships. The study is conducted following the tenets of the “naturalistic inquiry” as proposed by Lincoln and Guba (1985).

This study analyzes how employees at a university recreation center discursively construct their experiences of emotional labor, how they conceptualize such behavior in terms of displaying unfelt emotions and faking in good and bad faith, and what these discursive constructions reveal about their perceptions of authenticity. The findings demonstrate that workers construct emotional labor as a natural ability and as performing a role. People who construct emotional labor as a natural ability depict themselves as the controller of their workplace emotion. They display unfelt emotions in good faith when they do so to uphold another’s face, and they believe that they possess a true self. Employees who construct emotional labor as performing a role view their supervisors as controller of their workplace emotion. They fake emotions in good faith when doing so uphold their own face, and they fake in bad faith when it upholds the face of a co-worker who they feel needs to be disciplined. These people do not possess a sense of authentic self. They view themselves as multi-faceted and they say that they use social comparison to determine how to behave in particular situations. These findings reveal previously unexplored complexities in scholars’ conceptions of emotional labor and authenticity.

Thesis (M.S.)--Rutgers University, 2009. / "Graduate Program in Psychology." Includes bibliographical references (p. 24-28).

Inaug.--Diss.--Uppsala. / Der Mahler der Sitten is a new ed. of Discourse der Mahlern. "Literaturverzeichnis": p. [v]-vi.

Thesis (Th. M.)--Westminster Theological Seminary, Philadelphia, 2003. / Includes vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 131-135).

In Citizen's United v. FEC (2010) and Sorrell v. IMS Health, Inc. (2011), the Supreme Court of the United States passed down a pair of opinions which clearly show the weaknesses of economic discourse as applied to the creation and transfer of information, itself defined as speech the court's opinion in Bartnicki v. Vopper (2001). Foucoult described economic discourse in his Archaeology of Knowledge (1972) as being particularly exclusive, both in terms of other discourse as well as to the potential participants in the discourse. This paper argues for the need to incorporate alternate modes of discourse that would provide a more complete understanding of the practical, social, ethical and legal parameters surrounding information's creation and transfer. / text

published_or_final_version / Linguistics / Master / Master of Philosophy

M. Tech. Drama / The focus of this research is in the area of Improvisational Theatre and Discourse Analysis. The purpose of this study is to use the selected tools from Improvisational theory and Discourse Analysis (with specific reference to the sub-category known as 'Conversational Analysis') as a way to assess the effectiveness of improvisation in theory, but then, by extension, to explore ways in which these very tools might be used to enhance theatrical improvisation.

published_or_final_version / Language Studies / Master / Master of Arts