This thesis aims to investigate the role of the syllable, a non-meaning bearing unit, in learning high level meaning bearing units---the lexical items of language. A computational model has been developed to learn the meaning bearing units of the language, assuming knowledge of syllables. The input to the system comprises of words marked at syllable boundaries together with their meanings. Using a statistical learning algorithm, the model discovers the meaning bearing elements with their respective syntactic categories. The model&#039 / s success has been tested against a second model that has been trained with the same corpus segmented at morpheme boundaries. The lexicons learned by both models have been found to be similar, with an exact overlap of 71%.

This study is an investigation of issues of language planning and education in Aruba and how these might facilitate effective change on the island. The questions for this study were. (1) What are the predominant language varieties in Aruba, and to what uses are they put? (2) What is the official plan the Aruba government has put into place for educational change? (3) What generalizable implications for language planning and education surface from an in depth look at the context in Aruba? Major findings are the following: (1) The four predominant languages in Aruba are Papiamento, Dutch, Spanish and English. Papiamento is the indigenous language of the island used at home and as the lingua franca for island business. Dutch is the language of all official government documents and is the medium of instruction in the schools. Spanish language is utilized in homes of Aruban immigrants from Spanish speaking homelands and is commonly spoken among tourists and businesses catering to tourism. English is the vernacular language used at home for many Aruban families living in the San Nicolas geographic area of Aruba and is the language that dominates the tourism business. (2) The Aruban Department of Education has developed various plans for innovative change for their education system and is working in conjunction with several other agencies to bring systematic change to education in Aruba. These plans address language issues among others and are being implemented as legal strides are made. (3) In the context of Aruban culture and language, (a) education professionals have a responsibility to explore the ideological foundations of their theories and practices, (b) a commitment to structural equality is necessary, and (c) commitment to language planning in Aruba, and in any nation, requires a commitment to the struggle for language rights. Aruba's current political efforts are focused on initiating change for educational practice and theory. Aruba is in a position of unlimited possibilities to plan, design, and implement a new revised educational system that will change the culture of schooling in Aruba.

During the last several years, the growing interest in the teachability of pragmatics in a second or foreign language has been represented by a number of interventional studies that have examined either the possibility of teaching certain pragmatic features, or the effectiveness of specific teaching methods. This classroom-based project designed to investigate the teachability of pragmatics, focused on four intact classes at two different proficiency levels, using a quasi-experimental research design with the following structure: pretest - treatment - posttest - and delayed posttest. Participants were enrolled in a program of Foreign Languages at a university in Colombia. Two groups of students of basic English 2 (second semester) and two groups of students of intermediate English 1 (fifth semester) were the participants. The four groups received a written discourse completion test (WDCT) and a paired video-taped role-play (RP) as pretests. Results from the WDCT showed no significant differences between the two groups at each level, so the type of treatment (T1: pragmatics-based, and T2: institutionally imparted) was randomly assigned to the groups at each level. Treatment 1 provided learners with sociopragmatic and pragmalinguistic information and practice of receptive and productive skills in the TL. The treatment lasted 20 hours distributed across three weeks, after which, all the participants received a post-test in the same two forms taken by the pretest. The comparison of paired samples between the pre-test and the post-test, and the comparison of multivariate means between groups at each level showed significant differences that confirmed the efficiency of the pragmatics-based instruction, although improvement was more evident in WDCT performance than in RP performance. The qualitative analysis indicated progress in the ability to perform the expected speech act, the use of typical expressions, and the amount of information given. Improvement was also salient in macrolevel cultural aspects such as the expression of appropriate levels of formality, directness and politeness for the realizations of requests, apologies and compliments, as measured by the WDCT and the RP. The delayed post-test suggests that the pragmatics-oriented instruction favored both retention and improvement for the WDCT, while for the RP, the main effect was retention.

The purpose of this case study is to provide a working definition of effective language instruction consonant with the contemporary multicultural, university-level ESL classroom. Using a Grounded Theory methodology, it includes data from six months of teacher and student interviews, classroom observations, teacher evaluations, and questionnaires. Though attempts to categorize effective language instruction have been undertaken, previous taxonomies have been little more than altered models of teaching effectiveness from general education, offering little that is "new" or specific to the language teaching context. Furthermore, the shift from a teacher-centered to a student-centered classroom has not made great strides toward soliciting student input in the development of a contemporary definition of effectiveness. Thus, in approaching this working definition, I attempt to engage the fundamental principles of Critical Pedagogy to research by considering not only contemporary educational philosophy and the Communicative Approach to Language Teaching, but also students' needs and expectations based on their cultural and individual differences. Thus, the choice of pursuing a working definition rather than a definitive taxonomy emerges as a natural direction in the investigation. As it must be recognized that the microcontexts in the ESL classroom vary immensely in their makeup, the aim here is not to provide future second and foreign language teachers with a prescriptive formula, but rather a descriptive macroframework of domains which were abstracted and interpreted from the context of the ESL classroom. The qualitative, inductive case study approach used here enables teachers to identify elements derived from the organic data obtained in the classroom environment from its participants and apply it to their own situations. Thus, this framework can assist teachers in heightening their awareness and preparing them to participate effectively in a multicultural, university-level ESL classroom.

This dissertation investigates rhetorical theories and practices in Chinese cultural history. I examine the rhetorics that are explicit and implicit in Chinese philosophical, political, and academic theories and practices. Based on my case studies in Chinese history, I argue that rhetoric is a social, cultural, and historical construct, and rhetoric in the Chinese context is better understood as the study and practice of putting philosophy into social action for practical purposes. These case studies also illustrate that since assumptions about rhetoric are integrally related to particular cultural assumptions, the conventions of "good writing" are also culture-specific. I begin by refuting the notions that rhetoric is entirely Western and that Western rhetoric is universal. Rhetoric is better understood as having a cultural dimension. In the succeeding chapter, I examine the rhetorical expositions and implications of Han Fei-tzu's (c. 298-233 BCE) legalist philosophy. A concept of rhetoric, I argue, is explicitly developed in Han's theories of quan-fu or the art of speaking to convince and shui-shu or the art of advising. I also explore the conceptions of rhetoric that is implicit in his legalist theories of fa, shu, shi, which assume that persuasion and coercion are used simultaneously to preserve social order. In Chapter 3, I argue that the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976) provides a good example of how ideology functions as a system of rhetoric. I analyze The Little Red Book as an exemplary ideological discourse to show that the Thought of Mao Zedong, which was the dominant ideology of the Cultural Revolution, determined what was discursive, what was possible, and what was acceptable. In Chapter 4, I argue that Chinese academic writing has always served clearly defined sociopolitical purposes that have historically adapted with changes in political ideology. My analyses in the preceding chapters should give readers an historically grounded sense of Chinese rhetorics. With my case studies as points of reference, I conclude by exploring the implications of this project for the theories of rhetoric and comparative rhetoric. I examine how theories of comparative rhetoric can be developed with historical research on rhetorical conventions, cultural assumptions, and social practices. I also show how such an historically informed comparative rhetoric can be applied to teaching students to negotiate cultural differences in their writing.

<p> As a result of the expanding interest in the cognitive and social dimensions of language use beyond single sentences, a great number of research studies have been conducted in order to examine nonnative speakers&rsquo; ability to use language appropriately in a social context. Recently, with a growing understanding of the key role pragmatic competence plays in second language development, researchers have also investigated the benefits of direct instruction in helping language learners become aware of the pragmatic conditions governing the uses of grammatical structures. This thesis reports on the design and administration of a study that investigated language learners&rsquo; knowledge of pragmatics and how instruction can help them develop this knowledge in an environment where English is taught as a second language. Specifically, this project had two aims: (1) to observe the relationship between language proficiency and pragmatic competence of learners of English as a Second Language (ESL), and (2) to examine whether instruction was effective in improving those learners&rsquo; pragmatic knowledge. Pragmatic competence was measured quantitatively, through discourse judgment tasks, multiple-choice discourse completion tasks (MDCTs) and written discourse completion tasks (WDCTs) in a pre-, post-, and delayed post-test, designed specifically for this study. The participants in this research, thirty-nine adult ESL learners with a range of proficiency studying in the Intensive English Program (IEP) and in a university-level English course at West Virginia University, first took a language proficiency test and a pre-test on pragmatic knowledge. The participants were then assigned into two groups, experimental and comparison. The experimental group received four hours of direct instruction in five types of speech acts (requests, refusals, apologies, compliments, suggestions) and other aspects of pragmatic knowledge over a period of two weeks, while the comparison group was taught lessons on other topics without intervention during the same amount of time. An immediate post-test on pragmatic knowledge and a delayed post-test were given to both groups. The results showed that language proficiency and pragmatic knowledge were positively correlated with a moderate strength (<i>r</i> = .71, <i>p</i> &lt; .001). Analysis of covariance and further analysis showed that the experimental group significantly outperformed the comparison group in both the post-test and delayed post-test. The experimental group benefited from the instruction, which used a blended methodological approach, and the instructional effect was retained after a one-week delay. The results of this research helped understand the communicative skills and intercultural competence of ESL learners and demonstrated that instruction in the area of pragmatics is not only important but it can be beneficial at all levels of language proficiency. It is hoped that the topics reported and discussed here and the findings may help both English as a Foreign Language (EFL) and ESL teachers gain a better understanding of second language learners&rsquo; pragmatic competence and development through instruction, so that when they incorporate pragmatics instruction into their teaching, they will be in a better position to adapt their practices to facilitate pragmatic development.</p>

<p> This study examined the common essence of language restriction and then resurgence among Quechan Native American elders. The data suggests that Quechan elders' sense of culture and identity was influenced by speaking the native language. Bourdieu's work on language and power were supported as socially constructed means of communication. Findings from this study provided empirical support for Hatch's Cultural Dynamics model. Erikson's work on identity was also supported with additional suggestions made to expand his final stage of psychosocial development for the Quechan Native American. </p><p> This research primarily focused on the individual level of analysis and provided practical application for the constructs of language, culture, and identity. In addition, this research also provided theoretical contributions for identity while embracing the existing body of knowledge. The research question, <i>"How does speaking the native language affect one's sense of culture and identity?"</i> was addressed through ten interviews with elders of the Quechan Native American Tribe. </p><p> Three distinct findings emerged from data gathered in this research. The first major finding indicated that language is a means of survival for the Quechan elders who forms much of their current reality on historical knowledge. The second finding suggests that the identity of Quechan elders is under reconstruction through the resurgence of the Quechan language and subsequent legitimization of that linguistic symbol. Lastly, the Quechan elders may be realigning their individual view of culture based on a combination of long-standing tribal knowledge and documentation presented by the dominant culture. </p><p> This study suggests a need to draw stronger theoretical connections between the constructs of identity and culture. On the individual level of analysis, culture and identity form and reform constantly to emerge as new entities. However, as this research has suggested, the individual may greatly influence the group's fundamental ideas of culture and identity.</p>

<p> This qualitative study aims to attain a practical understanding of L2 English speakers' perceptions and understanding of their own English accents and to explore the relationship between their perceptions of accents and their perceived social identities. </p><p> Data were collected through interviews with 14 participants. The individual analysis on each participant was reported as a form of narrative. The group analysis across all the participants' narratives demonstrated the complexity of their perceptions and understanding of accents, and the complex and context-dependent nature of the relationship between accents and perceived social identities. Five themes that respond to the research questions emerged from the results and findings. From the discussion of the themes, a heuristic model of identity construction was developed. The model is grounded in three cases of the participants as an explanatory tool for identity construction. </p><p> The study provides pedagogical implications for language teachers, and provides some suggestions for future research.</p>

<p>Healthcare as an industry included over 14 million workers in the United States and accounted for more than 15 percent of total Gross Domestic Product in 2008. Healthcare, particularly hospitals, played a significant role in shaping the culture, economy and quality of life throughout the United States beginning in the late nineteenth century and continuing to the present. For this reason, it was important to understand the nature of hospitals as healthcare organizations and the nature of leadership within these organizations. Metaphors were identified as a viable way to capture the structure and functioning of hospitals through their evolution as organizations over the past century and were used to evaluate the effectiveness of hospital leadership in responding to environmental, financial and societal changes. Based on this assessment, the role of metaphors as a leadership tool was examined and as well as the potential role of metaphors in promoting organizations development. </p><p> A survey of Certified Professionals in Healthcare Quality (CPHQ) in the Northeastern United States was used to assess the prevalence of the two most common metaphors cited in the literature for healthcare organizations, mechanistic and complex adaptive system. A unique aspect of this survey was the use of paired statements reflecting characteristics of the two most common metaphors to evaluate their use in healthcare organizations. Surprisingly, the metaphors frequently cited in the literature were identified infrequently and no metaphors were identified consistently across hospitals in the region. </p>

<p> Because of marriage-immigrants and migrant-workers, demographic diversity has rapidly increased in South Korea since the late 1990s. Discourses of multicultural education have arisen in the field of early childhood education; they have focused on having children with diverse linguistic backgrounds adapt to Korean language and customs. What are the national goals of multicultural education policies for young children in Korea? This study investigated multicultural education policies for young children. Critical Discourse Analysis was used to examine values and hidden ideologies in policy texts. Findings demonstrate that, by borrowing and selecting favorite words from Western multicultural education models or theories, policymakers reframed early childhood multicultural education to assimilate ethnic minorities in Korea. National educational institutions functioned as the dominant form of producing and controlling the notion of multicultural family and education. It is recommended that policymakers in Korea consider experiences of teachers and voices of parents and children from culturally diverse backgrounds in developing multicultural education programs.</p>