Thesis (M.A.)--Calvary Theological Seminary, 2001. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 69-72).

Thesis (M. Div.)--Baptist Bible Graduate School of Theology, 2005. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 120-137).

No description available.

The purpose of this study was to develop a system for describing the interactive nature of language during instructional discourse. The system was then used to describe instructional discourse during reading lessons where comprehension was the major goal. Recently, reading instructional research has been conducted to investigate what occurs during reading lessons. These researchers observed lessons using instruments consisting of categories of behaviors that were expected to occur. The present study contributed to this line of investigation by describing what actually occurred during reading lessons through the language of instruction. Eight reading lessons were audio-taped in two second grades and two sixth grades over a three-month period. During one lesson, a story from a basal textbook was read and/or discussed. During the other lesson, a book from the district literature program was read and/or discussed. During the basal lesson, a group of students, neither highest nor lowest in reading ability, was selected in each class. During the literature lesson, a group of students of mixed reading ability was audio-taped in three classes. In one second grade class, the same group was audio-taped for both lessons. From transcriptions of the audio-tapes, a system of analysis was developed, consisting of a pragmatic subsystem for identifying interactional functions of language and a semantic subsystem for identifying interactional functions of language and a semantic subsystem for identifying transactional functions of language. Interactional functions were described as different types of speech acts, termed instructional acts. Transactional functions were described as different types of topical relationships between utterances, termed topical moves and topical sequences. Data were analyzed quantitatively, comparatively, and qualitatively. From quantitative analyses, organization of instructional discourse across reading lessons was described. From comparative analyses, variations in organization of instructional discourse between reading lessons were described according to grade level, lesson type, and teacher. From qualitative analyses, topical development during reading lessons was described. Results indicate that reading lessons can be described by analyzing functions of language using methods of discourse analysis. Application of these methods revealed similarities and differences in the organization of discourse among lessons and discourse strategies used by teachers and students to interactively accomplish reading lessons.

No description available.

The focus of this study is the area of discourse analysis. This thesis is a rhetorical analysis of the political discourse of Queen Rania of Jordan’s English speeches. The data of the study consist of 56 English speeches (56,706) words delivered by Queen Rania from 2001 to 2010 in different countries around the world. This study investigates how Queen Rania tries to convince the audience by using various rhetorical techniques. It investigates two main canons of rhetoric, invention and style, which are based on the classical Aristotelian classification of rhetoric. In analysing invention, her ethical, emotional and logical appeals to the audience will be examined in detail. In addition to that, this study analyses Queen Rania’s style in her speeches in a corpus-based study of two figures of speech, metaphor and metonymy. This study examines whether her speeches draw on the characteristics of the feminine style of women’s political discourse proposed by Campbell (1989a), Dow and Tonn (1993) and Blankenship and Robson (1995). The qualitative and quantitative analysis reveals that women’s political discourse has common features such as using personal experience to construct political decisions, being inclusive, believing in achievements, not mere words and promises and prioritising women’s issues and supporting their rights in the political arena. These observations support the results of the studies propounded by Campbell (1989a), Dow and Tonn (1993) and Blankenship and Robson (1995). It is argued that figures of speech such as metaphor and metonymy are not only used for ornamentation to make the speeches appealing to the audience; they are also used to call the audience to action and convince them to adopt certain ideas or change prior ones. It is revealed that political speeches use certain rhetorical techniques in order to persuade the audience such as employing rhetorical questions, telling stories, argumentation and identification, inter alia.

University of Macau / Faculty of Social Sciences. / Department of Communication

This study aimed to investigate how people with learning disabilities construct accounts of friendship, and manage aspects of a 'spoiled identity' within this. Furthermore it aimed to investigate how the typical processes of friendship formation are affected by the management of such an identity. It was suggested disclosure of personal information can be anxiety provoking for them and the choice of analysis needed to focus on deconstructing their accounts for linguistic devices used to manage difficult issues and then consideration could be given to the functions of these devices. Eight people with mild learning disabilities, four men and four women, were recruited to the study. Having obtained their informed consent each was interviewed using a semi-structured interview schedule focusing upon aspects of friendship formation identified within mainstream literature. In view of the aims of the study it was decided the most appropriate form of analysis would be discourse analysis. At a surface level the experience of the participants mirrored that found in previous research. In addition a number of rhetorical devices were identified. Further consideration of these revealed they were used at times in the interview when either participant or interviewer was attempting to manage an issue related to difference or stigma. In view of this it is argued that managing a stigmatised identity directly impacts upon typical processes of friendship formation. The findings are discussed; consideration is given to service and research implications. It is suggested that awareness of the nature and function of rhetorical devices could facilitate professionals in helping people with learning disabilities to discuss their difficulties and associated emotions in a more meaningful way. Enabling people with learning disabilities to develop higher self-esteem is discussed in relation to them attributing more value to friendships with others with similar disabilities, and the development of the self-advocacy movement.

No description available.

To date, hypertext and hypermedia research has principally studied the influence of separate features of hypermedia texts on information retrieval. By contrast, this thesis explores the meanings of hypermedia texts and the effects of these meanings on free website exploration. In particular, the study focuses on those meanings which can reveal how information is organised in websites and on the construal of such meanings through the interplay of hyperlinks, visual, verbal, audio and kinetic resources in generically hybrid hypermedia texts. This focus is motivated by research showing that understanding how information is organised in hypermedia texts is crucial for users' successful orientation within them. To achieve its aim, this research studies six websites for children and the navigation paths of fourteen children through one of them, and draws on interviews with the websites' producers and the children. The thesis connects the professional field of hypermedia design with systemic functional theory and systemic functional multimodal discourse analysis (SF MDA). As a result, it offers two tools for hypermedia discourse analysis, which are based on and illustrated through the analyses of five of the websites. The first is the system of HYPERTEXTUAL DISTANCE. Designed to analyse the potential of hyperlinks to reveal, obscure or transcend the textual organisation of a website, this system is built by reconceptualising from a SF MDA perspective a central principle for organising information in websites - website hierarchy. The second tool is the framework for analysing logicosemantic relations in hypermedia. Its categories describe the ideational relations that hold together information presented on the same webpage or on different webpages, which may or may not be hyperlinked with each other. Through the analyses of the sixth website and the navigation paths through it, the thesis exemplifies how both tools, independently and together, can be employed to explore the interdependence of website design and navigation. The discussion of selected results from these analyses, supported by the views of the research participants, identifies ways in which the tools proposed in this thesis can be applied in hypermedia design, evaluation and literacy education and complemented with other tools for hypermedia discourse analysis.