This research describes the development of communicative intention of young children with cochlear implants in order to study the relationship between the early communicative intention of these children and their later verbal communication. Five children under the age of three years with cochlear implants were selected from the records of the University of Stellenbosch, Tygerberg Academic Hospital’s Cochlear Implant Unit, Cape Town as subjects. Video recordings of each of the five subjects in unstructured free play interaction with their caregivers, before cochlear implantation and each six months after cochlear implantation over a period of two years were used to identify the development of their communicative intention. The Communicative Intention Inventory (Coggins&Carpenter, 1981) was used to classify the communicative behaviour of the subjects according to the types of communication functions that were used, as well as the way in which they expressed the functions of communication. Results of the study show that the development course of the functions of communication that the subjects used over a two-year period, were consistent with the development patterns found in younger children with normal hearing. There was however marked individual differences between the subjects during the transition from nonverbal to dominantly verbal ways of communication as far as the rate of development of verbal communication was concerned. A strong relationship was found among the five subjects regarding the use of the nonverbal communication functions, request for object or action and protest before cochlear implantation and their total verbal communication two years after cochlear implantation, which could account for these individual differences in the rate of verbal communication development after cochlear implantation. Indications for clinical application and future research were identified on the basis of these conclusions. The data collected during the research is seen as meaningful in clinical decision-making regarding the suitability of young children under the age of three years with a profound hearing loss for cochlear implantation and their therapeutic management. / Dissertation (M (Communication Pathology))--University of Pretoria, 2006. / Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology / Unrestricted

What qualities, skills, and knowledge produce quality teachers? Many stake-holders in education argue that teacher quality should be measured by student achievement. This qualitative study shows that good teachers are multi-dimensional; their effectiveness cannot be represented by students’ test scores alone. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to gain a deeper understanding of quality in teaching by examining the lived experiences of 10 winners or finalists of the Teacher of the Year (ToY) Award. Phenomenology describes individuals’ daily experiences of phenomena, examines how these experiences are structured, and focuses analysis on the perspectives of the persons having the experience (Moustakas, 1994). This inquiry asked two questions: (a) How is teaching experienced by recognized as outstanding Teachers of the Year? and (b) How do ToYs feelings and perceptions about being good teachers provide insight, if any, about concepts such as pedagogical tact, teacher selfhood, and professional dispositions? Ten participants formed the purposive sample; the major data collection tool was semi-structured interviews (Patton, 1990; Seidman, 2006). Sixty to 90-minute interviews were conducted with each participant. Data also included the participants’ ToY application essays. Data analysis included a three-phase process: description, reduction, interpretation. Findings revealed that the ToYs are dedicated, hard-working individuals. They exhibit behaviors, such as working beyond the school day, engaging in lifelong learning, and assisting colleagues to improve their practice. Working as teachers is their life’s compass, guiding and wrapping them into meaningful and purposeful lives. Pedagogical tact, teacher selfhood, and professional dispositions were shown to be relevant, offering important insights into good teaching. Results indicate that for these ToYs, good teaching is experienced by getting through to students using effective and moral means; they are emotionally open, have a sense of the sacred, and they operate from a sense of intentionality. The essence of the ToYs teaching experience was their being properly engaged in their craft, embodying logical, psychological, and moral realms. Findings challenge current teacher effectiveness process-product orthodoxy which makes a causal connection between effective teaching and student test scores, and which assumes that effective teaching arises solely from and because of the actions of the teacher.

Målet med den här datorbaserade filosofiska utredningen inom kognitionsvetenskap är att utforska intentionalitet i kollektiva beteenden hos artificiella svärmar. Två definitioner av intentionalitet utforskades; som representationer hos agenter och som observerbara attribut hos agenter, även kallat intentional stance. För den representativa definitionen användes en modell av kollektiv intentionalitet som integrerar två olika ståndpunkter, singularståndpunkten och pluralståndpunkten av kollektiv intentionalitet. Modellen har fem villkor för intentionalitet enligt SharedPlans. Genom att använda Belief-Desire-Intention-modellen för intelligenta agenter operationaliserades villkoren till möjliga representationer. En implementation av en målinriktad artificiell svärm i NetLogo analyserades genom att studera hur väl den uppfyllde de operationaliserade villkoren. Fyra av fem villkor var uppfyllda. Flera simuleringar med olika hastighet genomfördes även under observation. Dessa visade att processen kunde delas upp i tre faser med olika egenskaper. Den utforskande fasen hade gemensam intentionalitet centrerad till ett fåtal aktiva individer. Beslutsfasen hade individuella intentioner som kunde stå i konflikt med varandra medan gemensamma intentioner strävade mot samma mål. I flyttfasen var de individuella intentionerna att förhålla sig till varandra, vilket fick gruppen att upplevas som en enhet med intentionen att flytta gruppen. Resultaten visade att intentionalitet kan observeras och analyseras hos den här artificiella svärmen. Däremot har svärmen inte kollektiv intentionalitet utifrån båda ståndpunkterna.

L’objectif principal du présent mémoire est de montrer que le geste philosophique central à la phénoménologie husserlienne – l’ἐποχή transcendantale – au-delà de son utilité méthodique, recèle en lui-même une valeur éthico-thérapeutique. C’est à la lumière d’une étude approfondie du thème de l’attention chez Husserl, et de ses connexions à la volonté, à l’ego et au langage, que nous serons en mesure de déceler la valeur éthique propre à l’ἐποχή, mais aussi à la philosophie husserlienne dans son ensemble. En effet, nous argumenterons que c’est la visée « humaniste » – en ligne avec l’idéal traditionnel allemand de la Bildung (l’édification culturelle et morale de l’humanité) – qui nous permet de mieux saisir le projet global de notre auteur, d’une part, et de nous distancier de la tendance techniciste des sciences modernes de l’esprit, d’autre part. / The main objective of the present essay is to show that the central philosophical gesture in Husserlian phenomenology – the transcendental ἐποχή – beyond its methodological usefulness, possesses an inherent ethico-therapeutic value. It is by way of an in-depth study of the theme of attention in Husserl, and of its connections to the will, the ego and to language, that we will uncover the ethical value specific to the ἐποχή, but also to Husserl’s philosophy as a whole. Indeed, we will argue that it is the “humanist” aim – in line with the traditional German ideal of Bildung (the moral and cultural edification of mankind) – that allows us to better grasp the global project of our author, on the one hand, and to distance ourselves from the technicist tendency of the modern sciences of the mind, on the other.

Cette thèse questionne l’idée, aujourd’hui largement partagée, d’une compression de l’espace dû aux TIC. Ceci est dû au peu d’attention que les recherches en Systèmes d’Information ont porté à la question de l’espace organisationnel, ainsi qu’au déterminisme technologique. Cette étude cherche à comprendre la relation entre espace organisationnel et TIC en partant de la théorie de l’affordance, fondée sur les travaux de J.J. Gibson. Une étude de cas multiple portant sur deux écoles de management, au Canada et en Angleterre, a été menée. Les pratiques spatiales des chercheurs ont été analysées à partir d’un modèle fondé sur la théorie de l’affordance, afin de vérifier le rôle des TIC dans la formation de ces pratiques. Les résultats montrent que cette approche théorique n’est en réalité pas pertinente pour l’étude des TIC de manière générale.Nous proposons une perspective alternative reposant sur la phénoménologie de la perception de Merleau-Ponty. Au regard des 2 cas étudiés, cette approche suggère que les TIC ont un double effet : elles compriment et étendent l’espace simultanément. Les TIC constituent un point focal où les espaces proches et éloignés convergent pour produire une unique sphère d’expérience. Notre étude développe les concepts merleau-pontiens d’intentionnalité, de schéma corporel, d’habitus, de corps-connaissant et corps habituel dans le contexte des pratiques spatiales des chercheurs. Nous proposons d’abandonner la théorie de l’affordance au profit d’une approche expérientielle pour comprendre la relation entre espace organisationnel et TIC. / The dominant narrative of the collapsing of space due to ICT in organizations is challenged by this study. It is argued that this is due to a general lack of interest in organizational space in IS scholarship combined with technological determinism. This study seeks to understand the relationship between ICT and organizational space by mobilizing affordance theory based on J.J. Gibson’s work. A qualitative multiple-case study covering two business schools, in Canada and the UK, was undertaken. The spatial practices of academics were scrutinized using a model based on affordance theory to ascertain the role of ICT, as part of the wider environment, in the shaping of these practices. The results clearly demonstrate the inadequacy of affordance theory for the study of ICT in general. An alternative perspective based on the phenomenology of perception of Merleau-Ponty is proposed and successfully tested against the data. This alternative perspective suggests that, based on the experience of academics, ICT simultaneously collapses and expands space. ICT acts as a point of singularity where proximate and remote spaces converge to produce a singular sphere of experience. The study further develops Merleau-Ponty’s concepts of intentionality, body schema, habitus, knowing body, and habitual body in the context of the spatial practices of academics. I propose abandoning affordance theory in favour of an experiential approach to understand the relationship between organizational space and ICT.

This semantic typology study investigates the intentionality of causation event descriptions of ten native British English speakers (NBES) and ten native Castilian Spanish speakers (NCSS). Through a methodology that implements a picture story as non-verbal stimuli and verbal event descriptions, statistical data are gathered on the form and function of the participants’ descriptions. Inferred and inscribed characteristics of constructions are collected through a description task, a narration task, and a post-task interview. The results show that the NBES participants consistently were more varied in their choice of constructions, especially when the picture showed or implied an accidental action in the causation event. The frequent use of all constructions for a single picture might indicate that English does not provide a clear means for expressing what speakers want to voice in terms of intentionality. The functional characteristics attributed to the constructions were for the NCSS participants more unified than the NBES participants; all the Spanish constructions demonstrated a clear representing majority characteristic. Having more fine-grained distinctions to represent intentionality, as the NCSS participants have at their disposal, could potentially lead to less constructional variation, as there are options available to speakers for expressing the right intention with the use of a more specific construction. These fine-grained constructions also likely provide the speakers with more certainty in their judgements since they do not need to select a construction ad hoc that best fits the described event. / Denna semantiska typologistudie undersöker intentionaliteten i beskrivningar av orsakshändelser av tio infödda brittiska engelsktalande (NBES) och tio infödda kastilianska spansktalande (NCSS). Genom en metod som implementerar en bildberättelse som icke-verbala stimuli och verbala händelsebeskrivningar samlas statistiska data om formen och funktionen för deltagarnas beskrivningar. Uttydda och inskrivna egenskaper hos konstruktioner samlas genom en beskrivningsuppgift, en berättandeuppgift och en intervju. Resultaten visar att NBES-deltagarna konsekvent var mer varierade i deras val av konstruktioner, särskilt när bilden visade eller antydde en oavsiktlig handling i orsakssammanhanget. Den frekventa användningen av alla konstruktioner för en enskild bild kan tyda på att engelska inte ger ett tydligt sätt att uttrycka vad talare vill uttrycka i termer av avsikt. De funktionella egenskaperna som tillskrivs konstruktionerna var för NCSS-deltagarna mer enhetliga än NBES-deltagarna; alla de spanska konstruktionerna visade en tydlig representativ majoritetsegenskap. Att ha mer detaljerade skillnader för att representera avsiktlighet, som NCSS-deltagarna har till sitt förfogande, kan potentiellt leda till mindre konstruktionsvariation, eftersom det finns alternativ tillgängliga för talare för att uttrycka rätt avsikt med användning av en mer specifik konstruktion. Dessa finkorniga konstruktioner ger sannolikt också talarna större säkerhet i sina bedömningar eftersom de inte behöver välja en konstruktion ad hoc som bäst passar den beskrivna händelsen.

The main purpose of the present essay is, based on Emmanuel Levinas’s ethics of responsibility,to gain new knowledge about the teaching relationship and the relationship between the selfand the Other in that relation. The overarching question in this essay is what characterizes theteaching relationship in the Epistle to the Philemon from a Levinasian perspective. The purposeis also to develop theoretical tools and models from this perspective to interpret the teachingrelationship in the Epistle to the Philemon and which can also be applied to the teachingsituations in different churches. The questions to which I sought answers included: Whatconditions or prerequisites are present in the teaching relationship? What conditions createopportunities for the recipient to learn something from the Other? How does the ethicalrelationship in the language of the letter to Philemon manifest itself? What theoretical conceptsand models of practice can be developed from a Levinasian perspective for interpreting theteaching relationship that can be applied to teaching in a church context?According to Levinas, ethics is understood as a relation of the infinitive responsibility to theOther person. The underlying assumption in my thesis is that teaching is, above all else, anethical relationship. In this essay I have used a Levinasian approach about the Subject (or Ego)to come into being in its encounter with the other person. In other words, the relationship isfoundational to the existence of the Subject. The key concepts in this essay are intentionality,Saying (in relation to the Said), the Other, the Face, Levinas’s ethical subject, asymmetricalrelationship, and substitution. In their encounter with the data in the letters to Philemon, theconcepts have been freighted with educational significance.An important conclusion based on the material is that the didactic relationship is constituted asan asymmetrical relationship where the persons are related to each other in a double asymmetry.This two-way asymmetry requires a double trust in the didactic relationship, which isindispensable for all pedagogical practice, not least in church contexts. Throughout the study,a relational ethical perspective has been developed as an alternative interpretative tool foranalyzing and reflecting upon the didactic relationship.

The thesis follows the development of the As-Structure as it is presented in Heidegger's Logic (GA 21) and shows that this abstract structure has been developed based on Brentano's Psychology 1 and Husserl's Logical Investigations. I describe how the As-Structure develops from the Brentano's distinction of physical and mental phenomena. The mental phenomena represent the basic sphere of our recognition, and the knowledge of the object as it is immanent to them. The object represents a stable counterpart to the course of experience (Objekt - Erlebnis relation). Therefore, only in the mental phenomena the object is being experienced just as it appears. This is the standpoint of Brentano, and it is adopted by Husserl who explicitly divides the structure of an intentional act into its constituents; the meant and the given. The object is accomplished when it is carried out by the intentional act. When the relation between the meant and the given is fully congruent, the given is given just as it is meant. Heidegger elaborates on this given as meant structure by transferring it outside the sphere of consciousness. He claims that the As-structure is the abstract constitutive element of the relation between the human (Dasein) and the thing; what is being encountered in the world is always given as something...

Магистерская диссертация посвящена исследованию лингвистических особенностей политического дискурса предвыборных кампаний в США. Целью данной работы является определение роли функциональных доминант как фактора речевого воздействия и выявление особенности их употребления в политическом дискурсе предвыборных кампаний. Структура работы состоит из двух глав: теоретической и практической. В первой главе рассматриваются теоретические основы исследования, определяется теоретический подход к изучению материала. В практической части проводится сравнительный анализ текстов предвыборных кампаний рассматриваемых периодов. В результате нашего исследования, определена роль функциональных доминант в политическом дискурсе, выявлены особенности их употребления, а также даны рекомендации по формированию эффективной предвыборной речи с учётом лингвистических и дискурсивных особенностей. Данные результаты могут быть использованы при подготовке агитационных мероприятий, специалистами по связям с общественностью, спичрайтерами, политическими консультантами, политтехнологами, специалистами по межкультурной коммуникации, при составлении программ, курсов, учебных дисциплин по межкультурной коммуникации. / The master’s thesis is devoted to the study of linguistic features of the political discourse of election campaigns in the United States. The purpose of this work is to determine the role of functional dominants as a factor of speech influence and to identify the features of their use in the political discourse of election campaigns. The structure of the work consists of two chapters: theoretical and practical. The first chapter discusses the theoretical foundations of the study, defines a theoretical approach to the study of the material. In the practical part, a comparative analysis of texts is carried out election campaigns of the periods under consideration. As a result of our research, the role of functional dominant in political discourse, the peculiarities of their use are revealed, and recommendations are given on the formation of an effective election speech taking into account linguistic and discursive features. These results can be used in the preparation of campaign events, by public relations specialists, speechwriters, political consultants, political technologists, specialists in intercultural communication, in the preparation of programs, courses, academic disciplines on intercultural communication.

This thesis contributes to our understanding of cognitive interoperability by explor-ing barriers, facilitators, and contextual factors to create a framework. With the ad-vent of the cognitive domain in warfighting, the adversary pursuit of military strate-gic advantage through cognitive science demands that we seize the initiative and seek cognitive superiority with allies and partners. Prior research acknowledges the importance of human interoperability but is limited to singular studies at the opera-tional and national level. This thesis shifts focus to the military strategic and multi-national level to uncover cognitive and cultural inhibitors and enablers of cognitive interoperability. The empirical data is drawn from a distinct case study that examines senior military officers during a combined exercise. The analysis explores compe-tencies that foster strategic empathy and collective intentionality with identity and human connectivity as major catalysts. Individuals are agents who collectively con-struct cognitive interoperability, setting conditions for cognitive dominance in future military competition.