published_or_final_version / English Studies / Master / Master of Arts

M. Tech. Language practice / At the centre of the messages and information disseminated to the public, there is language. This study investigated the role played by language when health awareness campaigns are planned by the Department of Health (DoH) in South Africa. The background and rationale of the project is discussed, with special reference to the language speakers in Pretoria, since the study was undertaken in this area. Pretoria is a city occupied by residents that are representative of all South African language groups; namely, English, Afrikaans, Sotho, Nguni, Venda, and Tsonga. This coming together of all languages in one small area of the country has indirectly led to the evolution of a language that has never stopped to grow over the years. This language that has evolved in Pretoria is unofficially called Sepitori (Pretoria Sotho); it has become a language of pride, and the communities in and around Pretoria see it as a compromise between Sepedi and Setswana. Since Sotho is widely spoken in Pretoria, the communities have become so attached to this language that anyone who speaks English around them is seen as snobbish, or an elite who normally doesn't get a warm welcome by the average Pretoria township resident, and they are often labeled 'coconuts'. In the health centres of the city and surrounding townships, health information is conveyed mostly in the English language. Through observation, one may say that important information might be ignored by the people visiting public clinics and hospitals, or they might have little or no interest in reading it. This might be because of various reasons which the study will try to find out, as guided by the language policy of South Africa in the DoH. The concern in this study is the language used for the displayed information. The study attempts to assess whether consideration is given to the language(s) of the locals when health awareness campaigns are prepared.

The thesis represents the position of French language on international scene, its role in the formation of patriotism of French nation and its development within the European Union. This thesis is concerned with the reasons which raised French language to an international and diplomatic language and which led to the weakening of its influence in the world. The thesis analyzes the language policy of France and institutions supporting the francophonie which care for protection and maintenance of French in the European and worldwide bases. Not least, there is outlined the importance of French language in the process of European integration and its current mission in the institutions of European Union.

Thesis advisor: Marilyn Cochran-Smith / In 2002, voters in Massachusetts passed a referendum, commonly referred to as "Question 2," requiring that, "All children in Massachusetts public schools shall be taught English by being taught in English and all children shall be placed in English language classrooms" (M.G.L.c.71A§4). This dissertation investigates the system of education for secondary bilingual learners and their teachers resulting from the passage of Question 2 by examining assumptions and ideologies about race, culture, and language across policy and practice. Drawing on critical race theory (CRT) and the construct of majoritarian stories, two distinct and complimentary analyses were conducted: a critical policy analysis of state level laws, regulations, and policy tools, and a critically conscious longitudinal case study of one teacher candidate who was prepared to work with bilingual learners and then taught bilingual learners during her first three years of teaching. The critical policy analysis, conducted as a frame analysis, exposes that legally sanctioned racism and linguicism are institutionalized and codified through Massachusetts state policy. Additionally, Massachusetts state policy consistently and strongly promotes four common majoritarian stories regarding the education of secondary bilingual learners and their teachers: there is no story about race, difference is deficit, meritocracy is appropriate, and English is all that matters. The longitudinal case study demonstrates the power of these majoritarian stories in classroom practice and how they limit the opportunities of bilingual learners and their teachers while also perpetuating institutionalized racism and linguicism. Taken together, the two analyses that make up this dissertation reveal a problematic system deeply affected by majoritarian stories that obscure the role white privilege and white normativity play in perpetuating issues of inequity for secondary bilingual learners and teachers. This dissertation argues that in order to disrupt institutionalized racism and linguicism, these stories must be consistently, proactively, and powerfully challenged across all levels of policy and practice. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2010. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Teacher Education, Special Education, Curriculum and Instruction.

This thesis considers the initiatives of civil society organizations involved in efforts to revitalize the endoglossic minority languages in Zimbabwe in the period following the attainment of political independence in 1980. The study sought to understand how particular organs of civil society in Zimbabwe, such as the Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace in Zimbabwe, Silveira House, Save the Children Fund (United Kingdom), and the African Languages Research Institute, have contributed to the development and promotion of linguistic human rights in Zimbabwe. These civil society organizations have worked with grassroots organizations formed by speakers of the endoglossic minority languages, such as the Tonga Language and Cultural Organization and the Zimbabwe Indigenous Languages Promotion Association. This thesis traces the initiatives undertaken by these organs of civil society through the formation of collaborative networks involving the various actors who collectively mobilized for the linguistic human rights of minority language groups in Zimbabwe. A qualitative approach to research was adopted for this study. Data was collected through qualitative interviews with key informants as well as through documentary materials that were collected from the identified organizations involved in the minority language revitalization project in Zimbabwe. Drawing on analytic frameworks of language revitalization efforts advanced by Fishman (1991, 2001), Crystal (2000), Skutnabb- Kangas (2000) and Adegbija (1997), I argue that the minority language revitalization efforts in Zimbabwe targeted two main domains of language use; education and the media. I further identify three main strategies that were adopted in advocating for an increased presence of the minority languages in these domains. The first strategy involved what Fishman calls the search for “ideological consensus” and “prior value consensus”. This strategy involved efforts by the language activists to mobilize the grassroots members of the minority language-speaking community to assume an ideological orientation whereby the minority languages were viewed as a resource and a right, and to actively participate in developing and promoting their languages. The second strategy arose from the focus on the state’s language ideology as constituting the basis on which the marginalization of their languages was legitimated. This second strategy, identified as an ideological or politically-oriented language revitalization strategy, involved instituting measures that challenged the state’s language policy as the manifestation of an exclusionary and linguicist state language ideology. The third strategy, identified as a language-based and technically-oriented language revitalization strategy involved initiatives geared towards corpus development of the minority endoglossic languages. This thesis concludes that these language revitalization initiatives were successful because as a result of these initiatives, the Government of Zimbabwe made concessions that gave the minority language groups a bigger stake in their targeted domains: the Ministry of Information and Publicity set up a radio station broadcasting exclusively in the minority languages, and the Ministry of Education, Sport and Culture put in place new provisions on the learning and teaching of minority languages which allowed for the teaching of minority languages up to Grade 7 by 2005, with room for annual progression to secondary school level.

L'enseignement du français comme une langue étrangère constitue une nécessité dans un pays plurilingue comme le Liban. La constitution libanaise a donné une place privilégié à la langue française dans le cadre de l'enseignement public en stipulant que : «l'enseignement des deux langues: l'arabe et le français sont obligatoires dans toutes les écoles nationales». Toutefois, à l'école publique, plus précisément au cycle primaire, les apprenants souffrent d'un niveau médiocre en français. Plusieurs facteurs entravent le processus d'enseignement/apprentissage du français ; nous avons délimité ces facteurs par les trois champs d'investigation suivants : l'apprenant, l'enseignant et le milieu scolaire. Notre recherche expérimentale tente d'établir une corrélation entre le niveau médiocre en français des apprenants de l'école publique et ces trois champs d'investigation. Elle vise à expliciter avec minutie les causes qui sous-tendent ce niveau médiocre en français notamment chez les apprenants de l'école publique. / Teaching French as a foreign language is a necessity in a multilingual country like Lebanon. The Lebanese Constitution gave a privileged place to the French language in the context of public education by stipulating that: "the teaching of two languages: Arabic and French are mandatory in all national schools." However, public schools, specifically in the primary grades, students suffer from a poor level in French. Several factors impede the process of teaching / learning French, we have defined these factors by the following three areas of investigation: the learner, the teacher and the school. Our experimental research attempts to establish a correlation between the level of poor learners in French public schools, and these three areas of investigation. It aims to explain carefully the reasons underlying this poor level in French particularly among public school students.

Cette thèse est basée sur une analyse de manuels scolaires, objet d'étude en plein essor. Toutefois, en Italie, la littérature se limite encore à de simples listes de manuels. Nous voulons aller plus loin et interroger ces manuels scolaire d'aujourd'hui afin de comprendre où en est l'Italie par rapport au projet européen qui met en avant le plurilinguisme. Quels sont les nouveaux enjeux qui sous-tendent la conception du manuel de français langue non maternelle en Italie ? / AbstractThis thesis is based on an analysis of textbooks, expansion subject of study. However, in Italy, the literature is still limited to simple list of textbooks. We want to go further and question these textbooks of today to understand where Italy is.on European project that put first the multilingualism. What are the aims underlying the design of the French Manual non native language in Italy?

Les décisions sur les langues, ou politiques linguistiques familiales, constituent le cadre de cette recherche portant sur la transmission de l'anglais dans des familles francophones résidant en France. L'objectif est de mieux comprendre pourquoi et comment ces décisions sont prises par les parents, à travers l'étude de leurs représentations et de la façon dont ils rendent compte de leurs décisions. Les résultats montrent que les représentations des parents sur l'enseignement des langues sont négatives et qu'elles expliquent pourquoi ils sélectionnent un modèle d'enseignement bilingue pour leur enfant. Leurs représentations du bi/plurilinguisme et de l'anglais sont positives : ils souhaitent avant tout transmettre une langue qu'ils affectionnent et qui participe à leur identité en tant qu'individus plurilingues plus qu'ils ne la considèrent utile. Le vécu linguistique des parents, leur désir de bilinguisme pour l'enfant, les questionnements liés à ce qu'implique le choix d'une autre langue que sa langue native, l'investissement ainsi que la place centrale de l'enfant dans ces décisions permettent de mieux comprendre leurs politiques linguistiques. / Decisions regarding languages, or what is called family language policy, is the main focus of the present study which deals with the transmission of English in francophone families living in France. To better understand how their decisions are taken, this research aims at analyzing the underlying parents' representations and the way they account for their choices. The results show how negative their representations of foreign language teaching in France are, which explains why they tend to favor a bilingual education for their children. Their representations of bi/plurilingualism, along with the English language, are positive and point to the fact they want to pass on a language that they are particularly fond of and which is part of their identity as plurilingual individuals. Their experience with languages, the project of bilingualism for their children, the questions raised by what it means to speak a language other than the native language, their investment and the place of the child within their decision making process enable us to better understand their family language policies.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-28T19:33:53Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Nancy Aparecida Arakaki.pdf: 1044938 bytes, checksum: eabf37bd18d26b4ca23c11d7fbfe7833 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-09-25 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / This thesis is focused on the book MOÇAMBICANISMOS: Para um Léxico de Usos do Português Moçambicano [MOZAMBICANISMS: For a Lexicon of Use of the Mozambican Portuguese by Armando Jorge Lopes, Salvador Júlio Sitoe and Paulino José Nhamuende (2002)], based upon a historiographical approach. The reasons for choosing Linguistic Historiography is because historiographical methods enable the researcher to diachronically systematize the whole process which led to the Portuguese language change into Mozambican Portuguese (PM). The historical and linguistic reconstruction of the Mozambican Portuguese, through a contextualized immanency has driven us to the finding that the book is a critical didactic and pedagogic tool within the Mozambican multilingual and multicultural context and it easily favours bilingual education. The book is an appropriate model for the linguistic and communicative competence development of Portuguese speakers in the lusophone world (second language speakers) for it is viewed within a national solidarity language policy. This is not limited to the description of a standardized norm which is intelligible both at the domestic and international level. It also clears the path for the valuing of the bantu languages for forthcoming scientific works towards the production of a grammar and of a more expanded dictionary. This thesis seeks to demonstrate the sociocultural, linguistic and political implications within the scope of its model regarding the language policy and planning, with the aim at driving the Mozambican speakers to simultaneously join the community of Portuguese speakers and the bantu ethnolinguistic community, whose part it makes by nature. The book conveys visibility to Mozambique within Portuguese, English and Spanish speaking and symbolic world, mostly because it methodically and scientifically makes the Mozambican Portuguese known and makes it become recognised, as it suggests a peaceful coexistence and the ability to identify, understand and accept diversity in multilingual and multicultural settings / Esta tese tem como objeto de estudo a obra MOÇAMBICANISMOS: Para um Léxico de Usos do Português Moçambicano de Armando Jorge Lopes, Salvador Júlio Sitoe e Paulino José Nhamuende (2002), sob uma visão historiográfica. A razão de abordagem na área da Historiografia Linguística se pauta nos métodos historiográficos que nos permitem sistematizar, diacronicamente, como se deu o processo de mudanças na língua portuguesa culminando na variedade Português Moçambicano (PM). A reconstrução histórico-linguística do Português em Moçambique, sob uma vertente de imanência contextualizada , possibilitou a constatação de que a obra referenciada é um instrumento didático-pedagógico imprescindível no contexto multilíngue e multicultural moçambicano e favorece o processo de ensino bilíngue de forma menos traumática. A obra se configura num modelo ideal de desenvolvimento da competência linguística e comunicativa dos luso-falantes de Português (língua segunda) porque se instaura no plano de uma política linguística de solidariedade nacional. Como não se restringe à descrição de uma norma estandardizada, inteligível nacional e internacionalmente, ela também abre caminhos para valorização das línguas bantu e para futuros trabalhos em direção à produção de gramática do PM e de dicionário mais amplo. O nosso trabalho procura demonstrar as implicações socioculturais, linguísticas e políticas no âmbito do modelo dessa obra no que tange à perspectiva de política e de planejamento linguístico direcionados a conduzir o moçambicano a vir participar, ao mesmo tempo, da comunidade da língua oficial (o Português) e da comunidade etnolinguística bantu a que pertence por naturalidade. A obra confere visibilidade a Moçambique no universo simbólico da Lusofonia, da Anglofonia e da Iberofonia, sobretudo, porque, de forma metódica e científica, torna conhecido e reconhecido o PM à medida que propõe a convivência pacífica e a habilidade de identificar, compreender e aceitar afinidades e diversidades em espaços multilíngues e multiculturais

A presente pesquisa de natureza qualitativa com características colaborativa e etnográfica crítica buscou investigar a formação de professores de língua inglesa via dois documentos oficiais voltados para o segmento do ensino Médio (as Orientações Curriculares para o Ensino Médio Língua Inglesa e o Referencial Curricular para o Ensino de Língua Inglesa do Estado de Mato Grosso do Sul). O trabalho fundamentou-se principalmente nos estudos sobre globalização, educação, letramentos, linguística aplicada, políticas linguísticas e filosofia. Por meio de um trabalho colaborativo de três anos com três professoras de inglês, os dados foram coletados de gravações em áudio dos momentos de interação entre o pesquisador e as professoras colaboradoras na fase de discussão dos documentos oficiais. Foram ainda utilizados nas análises dos dados um palestra proferida pelas professoras, entrevista, diário de campo gravação dos depoimentos dos alunos, bem como o depoimento da diretora da escola. A análise fundamenta-se principalmente nos seguintes enfoques abordados neste trabalho: a descrição do contexto de ensino aprendizagem na escola participante; a verificação do que a discussão dos documentos oficiais pode informar sobre a prática das professoras; a discussão do ensino da língua inglesa em uma sociedade globalizada; a verificação sobre o conhecimento local e reconstrução deste a partir de um trabalho colaborativo entre escola pública e universidade e, por fim, o debate sobe a lógica de emancipação revisitada na formação de professores. / The current research of qualitative nature with collaborative and critical etnography characteristics aimed at investigating teacher education based on two official documents both addressed to the high school segment (Orientações Curriculares para o Ensino Médio Língua Inglesa; Referencial Curricular para o Ensino de Língua Inglesa do Estado de Mato Grosso do Sul). The work particularly focused on globalization, education, literacies, applied linguistics, language policy and philosophy. Under a three year collaborative work with three English teachers, data were gathered from audio recordings during the moments of interactions between the researcher and the teachers in the phase of document discussion. Furthermore, analyses have relied on lecturers delivered by the teachers, interviews, diaries and recordings of students´ reports as well as the school principal´s recorded reports. Analyses have addressed the following aspects raised in this study: Description of school teaching and learning contexts; investigation of what discussion of official documents can inform about teachers´ practices; discussion of English language teaching in a globalized society; local knowledge reconstruction through the collaboration between public school and university and, lastly, the logic of emancipation was revisited in the analysis of teacher education.