The current study investigated vowel quality in Miami Cuban Spanish, looking specifically at the influence of English on the Spanish vowel system. The vowel production of eleven Miami Cubans from three generations is investigated. Subjects include six males and five females. Three different elicitation instruments were used. The first was a brief sociolinguistic interview, the second was a story that the participants were asked to read aloud. Carrier words were embedded into the story in order to obtain multiple samples of both stressed and unstressed vowels. For the third instrument, subjects were asked to read a list of words with careful attention to their pronunciation. The reading list contained the same words that were embedded in the story of the first task. These three instruments were repeated in both Spanish and in English in order to investigate possible English influence in the Spanish vowel system of these bilinguals.

This essay investigates how the usage of minimal responses differs between men and women in different situations. There are three factors included in the analysis, gender of the interlocutor, formality, and the number of participants in the conversations. For each factor, the frequency and function of minimal responses are investigated. Eleven conversations are collected from the Santa Barbara Corpus to attain this aim. The method conducted to analyse the conversations is divided into two parts. The first part is to count the minimal responses used and calculate the frequency of usage for each speaker in all the conversations. The second part is a close analysis of the function of the minimal responses used by noticing whether they are disruptive or supportive. The results show that women use minimal responses at a higher frequency compared to men except in informal conversations. Also, there is no significant difference in the function of minimal responses between men and women. However, the minimal responses used in the informal conversations seem more disruptive. In pair and group conversations minimal responses can be used disruptively. However, if one considers the context, it seems that minimal responses in group conversations are collaborative, despite being disruptive.

The term existential construction has been argued to be a misnomer, as the primary function of these constructions is not to predicate existence. In this study, I compare these constructions with ones whose primary function is to predicate existence using a stratified sample of European languages. This comparison is done both in terms of structure and formality. I find that, while the constructions differ within a given language, similar structural characteristics to those common in existential constructions are also found in constructions predicating existence, in particular, the use of a special predicate. The latter are also found to be noticeably more restricted to formal registers than existential constructions are, based on corpus data from German and Russian corpora. / Termen existenskonstruktion har argumenterats vara missvisande, då den huvudsakliga funktionen hos dessa konstruktioner ej är att predicera existens. I den här studien jämför jag dessa konstruktioner med sådana vars huvudsakliga funktion är att predicera existens utifrån ett stratifierat sampel med europeiska språk. Jämförelsen görs dels baserat på deras strukturella egenskaper, och dels baserat på deras respektive formalitetsgrad. Det visar sig att, medan konstruktionerna skiljer sig språkinternt, så förekommer det strukturella drag liknande de i existenskonstruktioner även i konstruktioner som predicerar existens, då främst genom användandet av ett för uppgiften speciellt predikat. De sistnämnda visar sig även vara märkbart mer begrnsade till formella register än existenskonstruktioner, baserat på korpusdata från tyska och ryska korpora.

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Family Studies and Human Services / John E. Grable and Kristy L. Archuleta / The efficient operation and succession of family owned businesses plays a critical role in our national economic health. This study was built upon the Family Business Succession Model, which is based on family systems theory. The impact of owner characteristics, enterprise characteristics, business formalizing activities, family influence, access to resources, and external environmental conditions, all on the extensiveness of family business succession preparedness, was assessed. These results were moderated by the generation of the business. With an exploratory and descriptive methodology, primary survey data were obtained from family business owners in Missouri, Illinois, and Kansas. Research results provide family business advisors with important insight for developing recommendations around improving the extensiveness of family business succession preparedness, provide important policy implications, and serve as a basis for additional theory development in family business succession planning.

Submitted by Pedro Pires (pedro.olmp@gmail.com) on 2016-05-23T18:31:58Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertacao_Pedro_Pires.pdf: 432659 bytes, checksum: 9b8eb74f62fabc404ac017b453279282 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Letícia Monteiro de Souza (leticia.dsouza@fgv.br) on 2016-05-23T20:09:33Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertacao_Pedro_Pires.pdf: 432659 bytes, checksum: 9b8eb74f62fabc404ac017b453279282 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-05-23T21:50:20Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertacao_Pedro_Pires.pdf: 432659 bytes, checksum: 9b8eb74f62fabc404ac017b453279282 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-04-26 / We analyze the effects of constitutional amendment 72/13 in Brazil, which matched labor rights of domestic workers to those of other employees. We show that, after the legislation, a sizable media coverage and an intensified public interest increased general knowledge of domestic workers' labor rights. As a consequence, non-compliance of labor legislation in the domestic services sector became more difficult. At the same time, the amendment's need for additional regulation caused labor costs to remain mostly unchanged. Using a difference-in-differences approach that compares selected occupations over time, we find that the amendment -- and the discussion it sparked -- caused an increase in formality and wages among domestic workers. Then, using the heterogeneity of the amendment's impact on demographic groups, our results show that domestic employment was reduced and low-skilled women were pushed out of the labor force and into lower quality jobs. Placebo tests and robustness analysis indicate that our results cannot be explained by a number of alternative interpretations. / Nós analisamos o efeito da emenda constitucional 72/13 no Brasil, que igualou direitos trabalhistas de empregadas domésticas a aqueles de outros empregados. Mostramos que, após a legislação, uma considerável cobertura midiática e um interesse público intensificado aumentou o conhecimento geral de direitos trabalhistas de empregadas domésticas. Como consequência, o não-seguimento de legislações trabalhistas no setor de serviços domésticos ficou mais difícil. Ao mesmo tempo, a necessidade de regulamentar adicionalmente a emenda fez com que custos trabalhistas ficassem praticamente inalterados. Usando uma abordagem de diferença-em-diferenças que compara ocupações selecionadas ao longo do tempo, mostramos que a emenda -- e a discussão que ela causou -- levou a um aumento na formalização e nos salários de empregados domésticos. Então, usando a heterogeneidade do impacto da emenda em grupos demográficos, nossos resultados mostram que emprego doméstico foi reduzido e que mulheres pouco qualificadas saíram força de trabalho e foram para empregos de menor qualidade. Testes de placebo e análises de robustez indicam que nossos resultados não são explicados por diversas interpretações alternativas.

This paper investigates the formality level of the language used in twenty articles from two sports that seem to cater to different social classes (soccer and horse polo). The articles that serve as the data were published in two different types of British newspapers, one broadsheet (The Daily Telegraph) and one tabloid (The Daily Express) from September 2010 through November 2017. The study uses a quantitative method by means of the F-measure, and a qualitative analysis of two articles whose results deviate from the rest. The quantitative results show that there is a difference in formality in sports articles on the two sports soccer and horse polo, where articles on polo score higher on the F-measure in both newspapers. Most articles on horse polo follow the pattern of the informational production with features like a high ratio of nouns, pronouns, long words, and adjectives often found in academic papers and legal documents etc. Articles on soccer follow the involved production, characterized by a high ratio of verbs, adverbs, pronouns, and WH-questions often found in spoken interaction. The qualitative analysis shows that the article on soccer which has a much higher F-score than the rest is an informative article on the price of season tickets, and that the polo article with a very low Fscore contained a lot of quoted speech. / I den här uppsatsen undersöks formalitetsnivån i tjugo artiklar om fotboll och hästpolo. Två sporter som vanligtvis har utövare från olika samhällsklasser. Artiklarna som använts som data har blivit publicerade i två olika typer av brittiska tidningar, en dagstidning (The Daily Telegraph) och en kvällstidning (The Daily Express) från september 2010 till november 2017. I studien används en kvantitativ metod kallad the F-measure och en kvalitativ analys av de två artiklar där resultaten skilde sig från övriga. De kvantitativa resultaten visar att det är skillnad på formaliteten i artiklarna om fotboll och hästpolo, där artiklar om hästpolo får ett högre Fvärde än artiklar om fotboll i båda tidningarna. Flertalet artiklar om hästpolo följer mönstret för informativa texter som karaktäriseras av ett högt antal substantiv, pronomen, adjektiv och långa ord av den typ som ofta finns i akademiska uppsatser och juridiska dokument etc. Artiklar om fotboll följer oftast mönstret för involverade texter, som kännetecknas av ett högt antal av verb, adverb, pronomen och frågeordsfrågor som ofta hittas i talat språk. Den kvalitativa analysen visar att fotbollsartikeln som hade ett mycket högre F-värde än övriga var en informativ artikel om priser på säsongsbiljetter, och att poloartikeln som hade ett väldigt lågt F-värde innehöll en hel del citat från intervjuer.

Les normes langagières étant en constante évolution au sein de notre société, les entreprises québécoises doivent adapter leur discours publicitaire pour plaire à leur public cible en tenant compte des normes et tendances actuelles. De ce fait, cette étude se penche sur les attitudes des consommateurs et consommatrices de différents profils sociodémographiques par rapport aux approches linguistiques adoptées en publicité écrite au Québec. Les approches étudiées concernent le choix de pronom d’adresse, le niveau de langue ainsi que l’intégration d’anglicismes dans les annonces publicitaires. Ainsi, 192 personnes locutrices natives du français québécois ont répondu à un questionnaire sociolinguistique accessible en ligne afin de mettre en relation leurs caractéristiques et leurs préférences à l’égard des trois aspects susmentionnés. L’analyse réalisée est de type quantitatif. Les résultats nous permettent de constater que l’âge est la variable la plus significative pour expliquer les préférences des participant·e·s. Notamment, il y est démontré que les répondant·e·s de 35 ans et moins jugent moins sévèrement les anglicismes et perçoivent plus favorablement le tutoiement en publicité que leurs aînés. Bien que les Québécois·es apprécient un niveau de langue familier ou populaire dans les publicités de produits ou services ludiques, un niveau de langue tout au moins standard est préféré pour les produits ou services plus luxueux. En somme, la présente recherche apporte une contribution à la littérature au niveau des préférences linguistiques des Québécois en publicité et elle permet de démontrer l'importance des choix linguistiques lors de la conception des slogans publicitaires. / As language norms are constantly evolving in our society, Québec companies must adapt their advertising discourse to appeal to their target audience by taking into account current norms and trends. Therefore, this study examines the attitudes of consumers of different socio-demographic profiles with respect to the linguistic approaches adopted in Quebec print advertising. The approaches studied concern the choice of pronoun of address, the level of formality of the message, and the integration of Anglicisms in advertisements. Thus, 192 native speakers of French in Quebec answered an online sociolinguistic questionnaire in order to relate their characteristics and preferences to the three aspects mentioned above. The analysis carried out is quantitative. The results show that age is the most significant variable in explaining the participants' preferences. In particular, respondents aged 35 and under judge words borrowed from English less severely and perceive the less formal pronoun of address in advertising more favorably than their elders. While participants evaluate a colloquial or popular level of language in ads for fun products or services positively, they prefer a standard level of language for more luxurious products or services. In sum, this research contributes to the literature on the language preferences of Québécois participants in advertising and demonstrates the importance of targeting the right linguistic forms in the design of advertising slogans.

師徒關係是組織中重要的人際關係，而師父是師徒功能的提供者，故探討影響師父是否提供師徒功能的因素有其理論與實務上的的意涵。然而，現有文獻大多從徒弟特質或環境因素來探討促進師父提供師徒功能之因素，而忽略了師父本人的動機因素。有鑑於此，本研究將反向思考，探討降低師父提供師徒功能之因素。本研究首先探討師父工作不安全感與師徒功能之負向關係。並進一步探討師父的組織競爭氣候知覺與師徒關係類型是否調節前述之負向關係。本研究以便利抽樣之方法進行資料收集，共獲得170份有效問卷。根據迴歸分析結果顯示，師父工作不安全感與師徒功能有負向關係，但僅有師父的組織競爭氣候知覺調節前述之負向關係。當師父的組織競爭氣候知覺高時，前述負向關係的強度更強。但師徒關係類型（正式或非正式）則不對於上述關係具有調節效果。本論文也針對研究結果的理論與管理意涵進行討論。 / Mentors are the providers for mentoring support to protégés. However, the available studies focus on factors relevant to protégés or contexts and overlooked the role of mentors. Given that mentor plays an indispensable role in mentoring relationships, understanding the mentor-related factors that contribute to mentors’ provision of mentoring support has theoretical and practical implications. To this end, the current study examined the factors that prevent mentors from providing mentoring support to their protégés. Specifically, I argue that mentors’ job insecurity will be negatively related mentoring support provided. Furthermore, mentors’ intra-organizational competitiveness climate perception and mentorship formality will moderate the above negative relationship. Using a convenience sampling strategy, data from 170 mentoring pairs were collected. Results of hierarchical regression analysis indicated that job insecurity was negatively related with mentoring functions. Furthermore, intra-organizational competitiveness climate perception moderated the negative relationship between job insecurity and mentor functions such that the negative relationship was stronger for mentors who have high intra-organizational competitiveness climate perception. Finally, mentorship formality failed to moderate the above relationship. Theoretical and practical implications of this research were discussed.

本研究旨在探究將語言功能教學納入華語教學中之可行性，並選取華語稱謂語作為研究之對象。為達成研究目的，本研究以問卷調查方式以及訪談做為研究工具，有效問卷共計24份，透過問卷調取語料及配合訪談，進一步分析華語母語者在不同情境下對於稱謂語的擇用是否有規律可循。問卷調查以場合正式性、熟悉程度、階級、輩分與性別五項社會因素為主，檢測此五項社會因素個別如何宰制其對華語稱謂語的擇用，當其交乘時又會如何相互牽制與競爭。 　　經過研究實施與資料分析，在35個稱謂語中，只有7種形式使用頻率較高，包括「（名字　你）」、「您」、「職稱（｛你，您｝）」、「姓氏＋職稱（｛你，您｝）」、「（姓氏）職稱（｛你，您｝）」、「姓氏＋先生（｛你，您｝）」、「全名＋你」。在社會變相方面，發現性別對稱謂語的擇用不具顯著影響力。因此就場合正式性、熟悉程度、階級與輩分四項社會因素進行分析，歸結研究結果如下：（一）受試者在公開場合與私底下之首選均為併式「（名字　你）」。研究結果顯示場合正式性的高低對首選的指稱形式的選擇並無直接影響。換言之，場合正式性對於稱謂語不具識別性。（二）在很熟、不大熟與不認識三種情形下，「名字」或「你」使用頻率均很高，凸顯現在社會價值體系的走向仍偏向協和關係，且其已超越權勢的強度。因此，當需要標示社會差距時會使用「職稱」。換言之，熟悉程度對於稱謂語的擇用具影響力，並依此分列為兩大系統，以「名字」與「你」指稱熟悉度高的對象，以「職稱」指稱熟悉度低的對象。（三）指涉對象為上司時多選用有「職稱」者；指涉同事與下屬則偏向使用「（名字　你）」；「您」則少用於指涉下屬。另外，原先假設「階級」可分為上司、同事與下屬三種程度，然根據調查結果可重新切割為「上司」以及「非上司」（即同事與下屬）兩階即可。（四）在對象輩分高於自己的情況下傾向以「職稱」標示雙方社會距離，而在面對平輩或是晚輩時則不適用。選用「您」的情形在面對長輩或是平輩時較為頻繁，對晚輩則不使用。「名字」以及「你」的稱謂指涉則不分輩分高低，顯示這兩種語言形式基本上不受到輩分高低的控制。（五）綜合以上，發現四項社會因素個別對稱謂語之影響力的優先順序為：｛熟悉程度，階級｝＞輩分＞場合正式性；交乘考量時，對稱謂語之影響力的優先順序為：熟悉程度＞階級＞輩分＞場合正式性。無論是對於單獨或複合的稱謂形式，熟悉程度與階級的宰制均較強，影響力皆較大；而輩分與場合正式性的宰制較弱，影響力不明顯，可見與聽話者之間的關係才是主宰稱謂語擇用的主因。 　　最後本研究根據上述研究結果，對華語教學提出相關建議，並提出語言功能教學在華語教學實務上的應用與設計，希望能夠培養學習者建立對語言功能的意識與認識以及語言結構的使用能力，提升華語學習者的學習成效，達成語碼形式的正確性與使用之適切性兼具的成功溝通。

大部分在台灣的客家人都會說中文,但是其中有些客家人說國語時會留下客語的遺跡。本篇論文已語言上,場合正式性上,地理區域,以及社會因素等方面探討部分客家人把國語的/ɕ/唸成[s]的原因。 本篇論文包含量化分析以及質化分析,在量化分析上透過面對面的交談,念文章,以及唸單字等方法來收集資料。量化分析上總共有32位受試者,且受試者依照性別,教育程度,年齡以及地理區域以二分法的方式。而在質化分析上的受試者和量化分析的受試者為同一批人,但只有29位再次參與調查。 本篇主要的發現為: (1)在語言內部因素中,字頻,鄰近音,以及音節結構對於語音變異皆有影響。(2)語音變異的確有擴散的現象。(3)在語言外部的因素中,年齡以及地理區域的影響比場合正式性及性別來得大,但教育程度的影響則很微弱。整體而言:(1)本篇調查的語音透過語言內部,場合正式性,社會以及地理空間擴散 (2)語言內部以及語言外部皆對與音變異有影響,但語言外部的因素的影響比內部因素來得大。 / Most Hakka speakers in Taiwan, if not all, speak Mandarin Chinese. Among them, many leave some traces of their Hakka background in their Mandarin pronunciation. This thesis aims at analyzing the linguistic, situational, geographical, and social causes of the emergence of [s] as a phonetic variant of /ɕ/ in Mandarin by Hakka speakers. In this study, both quantitative and qualitative analyses were conducted to locate the internal and the external constraints on the target phonetic variation. Those data for quantitative analyses were collected from the linguistic production by 32 native speakers of Hakka in casual conversation, reading passage, and reading characters. Subjects of this study are equally distributed to two genders, two education levels, two age groups, and two geographical areas (namely, in Taoyuan City and Chungli City, two cities in which a large proportion of Hakka speakers reside) . As for data for qualitative analyses collected from 29 of the 32 subjects of the quantitative tests, only those parts of the qualitative design that were implemented correctly were analyzed. The major findings of this study are (1) among the internal factors, word frequency, preceding vowels, and syllable structure were found to be influential to the target phonetic variation; (2) the target phonetic variation does expands through lexical diffusion; and (3) among the external factors, age and geographical area are more influential than situational formality and gender, but the impact of education level is weak. General conclusion of this study include (1) this target phonetic variation is expanding gradually through linguistic, situational, and social/geographical spaces; and (2) both internal and external factors are effective, with external factors being more influential than internal factors. Key words: phonetic variation, lexical diffusion, formality, Hakka dialect, sociolinguistic variation, ethnic identity