Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Illinois. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 102-104).

<p> There have been multiple research studies focused on cross-cultural and interlanguage pragmatics in general, as well as specific studies analyzing the production of apologies from different native languages and from English learning contexts. However, the research related to Hispanic learning contexts of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) is more limited. In Colombia, only two pragmatic studies have been conducted about the production of speech acts and both of them focused on the pragmatics of Spanish as mother tongue. </p><p> This project analyzes the pragmatic competence development of Colombian EFL learners in a pedagogical environment where English pragmatics is not reinforced, comparing the selection of apology strategies used by EFL learners in role play situations in order to determine the variation between proficiency levels. Finally, retrospective verbal reports from the EFL learners and perception forms of American native speakers of English were collected in order to assess cross-cultural perceptions regarding the intelligibility, appropriateness, and politeness of the apologies. </p><p> The results of the study show that even without explicit pragmatic education or immersion opportunities in the target culture, these Colombian EFL learners have acquired some pragmatic competence in English. However, their general selection of apology strategies do not approximate either English or Spanish. Also, their discourse reflects the Colombian patterns of social behavior and preserve many features of Spanish pragmatics, which reinforces the idea of a transitional stage of inter-language pragmatic development.</p>

<p> This Master's thesis seeks to gain further understanding of the issues confronting Latino speakers of ESL with respect to language learning and identity. Specifically, through group and individual interviews that I conducted with Latino immigrants involved with a community-based ESL program in Southeast Michigan, I investigate the factors that shape these individuals' attitudes towards the English language as well as the ways in which pedagogical practices may foster or impede the development of ownership, confidence, and a positive sense of self in the target language. In the first chapter, I examine how recent applications of poststructuralism in second language acquisition (SLA) research serve as the theoretical underpinnings of the present study. Additionally, I outline some of the social, political, and cultural hegemonies impacting the lives of Latinos living in the United States and how SLA researchers have investigated these as they concern the social aspects of language learning. Chapter Two not only delineates the ethnographic methods I used to carry out the current research, but also aims to describe in detail many of the difficulties I encountered as a novice researcher in the hopes that it may benefit other newcomers to empirical exploration. The third chapter of this paper is dedicated to elucidation and analysis of the insights shared by interview participants. Amidst findings that life circumstances and the opinions of others (both native English speakers and Hispanic peers) often preclude these individuals from feeling they can take legitimate claim to English, I offer implications for the ESL classroom that may help students to explore their relationship to the language. Lastly, I propose the limitations of my research as well as directions for future inquiries.</p>

While current scholarship acknowledges the influence of Buddhist ideas on Julio Cortázar’s fiction, critical analysis of this element of his work does not often engage in depth with Buddhist thought. Buddhism is frequently characterised as something mystical or mythical when read in relation to the works of Cortázar. This approach leads to an insufficient reading of the highly important notion of the ‘centro’ in Rayuela (1963), whose symbolism, evoking a dynamic equilibrium, may be more successfully explored with closer reference to Buddhist philosophy. The Argentine author Marcelo Cohen has also engaged with Buddhist ideas in his works; his Buda (1990), a biography of the historical Buddha, testifies to this interest. Again, however, this aspect has not received full attention in critical scholarship. Given the importance of the use of negation in Cohen’s literature, comparing Cohen with Buddhist philosophy can enrich our understanding of many aspects of his works, such as his treatment of relationality. I have chosen to compare both Argentine authors with the Indian Buddhist philosopher Nāgārjuna, who is considered the founder of the Madhyamaka school, which is particularly associated with the theory of ‘emptiness’ (‘śūnyatā’). Nāgārjuna’s philosophy is cited directly in Cortázar’s poem ‘Canción de Gautama’ and Cohen’s Buda and informs a number of these writers’ other texts. The main body of the thesis is divided into three sections. These examine the triadic relation between time, identity and language, with each section focusing more on one of these three aspects in turn. The three chapters and three authors will be drawn together to form a new reading of the role of negation.