Magister Artium - MA / Afrikaans in practice replaced Dutch and became one of South Africa's official languages (along with English) from 1925. It reached the apex of its development and influence during the years of Nationalist party rule and the apartheid regime as a language of officialdom, of the judiciary and education. However, in 1994 nine African languages were afforded official status along with English and Afrikaans in South Africa. Presently, Afrikaans is still taught in the majority of schools in the Western Cape as either a first or second language. This thesis compares and contrasts the language attitudes and motivation towards Afrikaans in two groups of secondary school learners - grade eight and grade eleven learners - at the same school, viz. the Settlers' High School in Parow, a northern suburb of Cape Town, South Africa. At this English medium school, Afrikaans as a second language is a compulsory subject. The thesis also examines the dominant ideologies held towards Afrikaans by the learners and by the school in question which contributes towards shaping their attitudes and motivations for learning the language as well as their actual use of the language. The study finds a correlation between the learners' attitudes towards Afrikaans and their actual patterns of use of the language, which indicates that the use of Afrikaans may be in decline among especially the younger, grade eight, learners. / South Africa

Philosophiae Doctor - PhD / The study has several implications; for general theoretical traditions it highlights the point that ambivalent attitudes and incomplete language use are responsible for gradual language decline. Previous studies while acknowledging the role of community based, intuitive conditions on language maintenance and shift, did not show how the process occurred. For policy the study aims toward sensitizing policy makers and raise their awareness about the dire situation in which minority languages currently are in. This would ensure that politicians, bureaucrats, and other state authorities could implement policy decisions that guarantee protection of minority languages and enhance their vitality. One policy strategy that could ensure revitalization of minority languages would be to include them in the school curriculum as supplementary approach to the effort of the home and the community, as McCarty (2002, quoted in Recento, 2006) observes that schools; […] “can be constructed as a place where children can be free to be indigenous in the indigenous language - in all of its multiple and everchanging meanings and forms” (p. 51). / South Africa

The papers collected in this special issue originated from a workshop held at the Annual Meeting of German University Teachers of English (Anglistentag) in Hamburg in September 2016. Contributors and participants at the workshop were invited to probe into the usefulness – and the limitations – of the notion noncanonical grammar for their respective fields of interest, and the present volume is a lively testimony to an engaging discussion.

Since around 2011, Bongo Flava musicians use significantly more English in their lyrics than in the previous years, particularly in love songs. This article documents and describes this new trend and discusses the reasons for the change in language use. It reveals that the new development is indicative of a transformation of Bongo Flava towards pop, caused by changes in the domestic market on the one hand and by a growing outward-looking market orientation on the other. These changes are demanding new ways of constructing identities through the use of language. / Tangu mnamo mwaka 2011, wasanii wa Bongo Flava walio wengi hutumia kiasi kikubwa cha Kiinge¬reza katika nyimbo zao ukilinganisha na miaka ya nyuma. Hali hiyo inajionyesha zaidi katika nyimbo za mapenzi. Makala hii inaeleza mwelekeo huo mpya na kujadili sababu zake. Inatoa hoja ya kwamba mwelekeo huo umesababishwa hasa na mabadiliko katika soko la muziki ndani na nje ya Tanzania, hasa katika bara la Afrika. Mabadiliko hayo ndiyo yanayosababisha kutumia zaidi lugha ya Kiingereza.

El albur es un fenómeno lingüístico y duelo verbal de doble sentido sexual altamente asociado con la identidad y el lenguaje mexicano. El objetivo de esta tesina es explorar el albur y su relación con género, desde su concepción prehispánica hasta la actualidad, para averiguar el posible rol que pueda tener en este juego una persona de identidad de género no masculina. Al efecto, se revisa literatura sobre el albur tales como Johansson (2006), Lavertue (1998), Martínez García & Erdösová (2020) y Durán González (2012), además de trabajos sobre la identidad mexicana como (Paz ([1950]1996), Szasz (1998), Lagarde ([1990]2005) y Domínguez Ruvalcaba (2013), entre otros. Se hace un análisis pragmático y sociolingüístico del albur con ayuda de teorías lingüísticas relacionadas con el humor, factores sociolingüísticos y el habla femenina, más notables la Teoría General del Humor Verbal propuesta por Attardo & Raskin (1991), la variedad sociolingüística de Silva-Corvalán & Enrique-Arias (2017), el trabajo de Diaz-Campos (2014) sobre lengua, edad, género y nivel socioeconómico, además de los hallazgos de Alvarado Ortega (2016) con respecto a la descortesía y humor fallido en conversaciones entre hombres y mujeres. Finalmente, se presentan los resultados y el análisis de un estudio cuantitativo nuevo, investigando cómo la juventud mexicana universitaria percibe la relación entre el albur y género al presente. Se encuentra que casi todas/os informantes se consideran capaz de entender el albur y que personas de todos géneros emplean el albur. El grado de entendimiento y empleo se percibe como un poco más bajo en las mujeres/personas de identidad de género no masculino, lo que se puede explicar por una falta de tradición y el valor negativo sociolingüístico del albur. En comparación con el hombre alburero, otra persona alburera se ve como un elemento más extraño; con respecto a las actitudes positivas y negativas, no se puede distinguir una divergencia fuerte. Se concluye que, actualmente, el albur no se debe considerar como un fenómeno necesariamente propio de los hombres, y que la inclusión de personas de otras identidades de género puede desarrollar, enriquecer y añadir valor humorístico a la tradición. / Albur is a linguistic practice largely restricted to Mexican identity and language use, constituting verbal duels of sexual double entendres. The current thesis seeks to explore how albur relates to gender, ranging from its prehispanic conception to the present day, focusing on the nature and possibility of involvement of non-male participants. To that end, literature on albur is revised, such as Johansson (2006), Lavertue (1998), Martínez García & Erdösová (2020) and Durán González (2012), as well as works exploring Mexican identity, including Paz ([1950]1996), Szasz (1998), Lagarde ([1990]2005) and Domínguez Ruvalcaba (2013). A pragmatic and sociolinguistic analysis of the practice is made on the foundations of linguistic theories regarding humor, sociolinguistic factors and feminine language use, including but not limited to; The General Theory of Verbal Humor (GTVH) developed by Attardo & Raskin (1991); sociolinguistic variety by Silva-Corvalán & Enrique-Arias (2017); the work of Diaz-Campos (2014) in regard to language, age, gender and socioeconomic status; and the finds of Alvarado Ortega concerning impoliteness and failed humor in conversations between men and women. Finally, the thesis also presents the results and analysis of a new quantitative study focused on how young Mexican university students view albur and gender relations in the present day. Almost all participants self-report understanding the discourse of albur, and people of all gender identities report practicing it. The degree of understanding and use is slightly lower in women/people of non-male gender identities, which can be explained by a lack of tradition and the negative sociolinguistic value of albur. Compared to male participants, other participants are to a greater extent viewed as a strange element; regarding positive and negative attitudes there is no strong difference towards the two. It is concluded that, today, albur should not be considered a phenomenon restricted to men, and that the inclusion of non-male participants can develop, enrich, and add humoristic value to the tradition.

South Tyrol is an autonomous province, which belongs to the Italian Republic. Its territory is specific for several reasons. This is caused by the historical development and also by the fact that South Tyrol is a crossroad where the Germanic culture and language meets the Romanesque one. The citizens are usually bilingual. The language issue offers a large number of topics, which can be further examined. This thesis is focused on language use in the public sector nowadays. First, the historical context of the South Tyrolean question will be explained with focus on language because the current state results from past events. Second, I will explore three following areas of the public sector: communication with public administration, politicians and at school. The main emphasis will be again placed on language. Next, I will deal with the language model of South Tyrol. My goal is to try to answer this question: Is the described model functional, stable and possibly transferable?

The aim of this paper is to analyze data that was collected in 2003 and 2004 in order to ascertain the claim made by Kiswahili stakeholders that the status of Kiswahili in secondary schools in Tanzania has dropped. The finding reveal that the number of periods allocated to Kiswahili is fewer than English. Secondly, whenever there is a shortage of Kiswahili teachers, any member of the teaching staff or even non-specialists are called upon to fill the gap. Thirdly, we note that Kiswahili teachers have never had the opportunity to attend any Kiswahili seminar since they graduated from colleges. Fourthly, the Ministry of Education and Culture has issued a circular to schools barring the students from speaking Kiswahili at the school compound to enable them to become proficient in English language. Considering the above findings, this study confirms that the status of Kiswahili in secondary schools in Tanzania has diminished.

Syftet med uppsatsen är att utveckla kunskap om undervisning och lärande av skönlitterär tolkning genom litteratursamtal i gymnasieskolan. Litteratursamtal har observerats och analyserats utifrån litteraturteoretiska antaganden och sociokulturella perspektiv på lärande. Uppsatsen tar utgångspunkt i kritik mot dominansen av läsarorienterade, receptionsteoretiska perspektiv på litteraturtolkning där ett stort ansvar läggs på elever att utveckla innehållet i det lästa. Studien har använt sig av deltagande observation som metod. Analysen fokuserar litteratursamtal i gymnasieskolan utifrån sociokulturella antaganden med koppling till styrdokumentens kunskapssyn, relationen undervisning – lärande, samt användande av språket som medierande redskap. De observerade samtalen visar bland annat medveten strategiundervisning för att upptäcka och benämna stilfigurer och formrelaterade begrepp i texter. Däremot används sällan litteraturvetenskapliga begrepp i direkt relation till den aktuella texten för att utveckla elevers tolkning och förståelse av innehållet. En närvaro av läsarorienterade perspektiv påvisas, men med frånvaro av lärarens stöttande, tolkande läsning. Resultaten visar samstämmigheter med tidigare forskning. Diskussionen problematiserar hur individen utifrån receptionsteoretiska perspektiv på litteraturundervisning antas konstruera undervisningens innebörder mellan text och läsare. Det innefattar brist på samstämmigheter mellan allmändidaktiska och ämnesdidaktiska antaganden. Lärarens roll i undervisningen framstår utifrån den sociokulturella analysen som central för att främja det ämnesrelaterade språkliga användandet i litteratursamtalet. / The purpose of the thesis is to develop knowledge about teaching and learning of fictional interpretation through literary conversations in upper secondary school in Sweden. Observations of literary conversations were conducted, and the conversations analyzed using sociocultural theory as an analytical tool. The thesis’ point of departure is a critique of dominating reader oriented, reception theory influenced perspectives in the field of literary teaching, where much responsibility is put on students to develop understanding and meaning from texts being read. According to critics, teaching in this perspective has limited students' opportunities to interpret literature. Previous research points to the need to investigate teaching, with the use of concepts in literary interpretation. The analysis focuses on students’ participation in literature conversations, relating to the philosophy of knowledge expressed in curriculum texts, teaching-learning relations, and the use of language as a mediating tool. The observed conversations show, among other things, strategy teaching to discover and name style figures and form-related concepts in texts. On the other hand, literary concepts are rarely used in direct relation to the current text to develop students' interpretation and understanding of the content. A presence of reader-oriented perspectives is demonstrated, but in the absence of the teacher's supportive, interpretive reading. The results are consistent with previous research. The discussion problematizes how the individual, based on reception-theoretical perspectives on literature teaching, is assumed to construct meaning from the teaching between text and reader. This includes a lack of coherence between general and more subject specific assumptions about teaching. Based on the socio-cultural analysis, the teacher's role appears crucial to promoting the subject-related language use in literary conversations.

No description available.

Considering teacher talk as the main input into the English as a foreign language classroom, this study aims to highlight and gain a deeper understanding of how target language use can look like in a foreign language classroom in Sweden. To investigate in this essay, the following research questions are addressed: • What is the teachers´ attitude towards the use of the target language in English teaching? • To what extent does the teacher communicate orally in English during English lessons? And on what occasions does the teacher choose to use the target language andthe first language during English lessons? The study was conducted in four different elementary schools, and four teachers were observed who taught in different grades. An interview was held after every observation, and through the interviews a deeper understanding was obtained. The material consists of notes through observation schedules and recordings of interviews and recording of observation. The study is based on Krashen's (1981) input hypothesis as well as Vygotskijs (2001) notion of Zone of proximal development. Research indicates that using the target language consistently can create learning opportunities for students, and a relaxing environment for them to use the target language themselves fluently during English lessons. Furthermore, studies has alsoshown using the first language can affect the students own language production and learning of the target language. However, other have shown that in some cases it can be an advantage to use the first language to include all students during English lessons, especially for the weak students in the class. Therefore, taking into consideration these different perspectives, I investigate four teachers´ use of English and Swedish in the Swedish EFL classroom.The findings show that three out of the four teachers observed used the target language in the beginning of the English lesson, while giving instructions, commanding the students to use the target language and asking them questions however, only one of them used the target language consistently during the English lesson. The findings also shows that the teachers used the first language to facilitate the students´ comprehension and to translate when they didn’t seem to understand what was said in English. Notably, some of the participating teachers indicated a desire to use the target language to a larger extent during English lessons, but they felt obligated to use Swedish in order to include all the students. The overall 3conclusion of this study is that it can be beneficial for both teachers and students if the teacher is aware of their approach toward the target language. They can thereby reflect on the impact this can have on their students´ language learning, their English lessons and their students´ use of the target language.