The study is concerned with the problem of how to improve the teaching of Arabic as a foreign or a second language. It lays down some of the essential foundation-work necessary for bringing about systematic and constructive improvements in the teaching of Arabic as a foreign language (TAFL) by investigating the contributions of modern linguistic sciences (such as applied linguistics, educational linguistics, psycholinguistics and sociolinguistics) to the development of foreign language (FL) teaching and learning. A survey of the literature indicates that a 'revolution' is currently taking place in FL teaching and that a new approach, known as the Communicative Approach (CA), has begun to emerge and influence the teaching of FLs in general, over the last decade or so. Since the CA is currently being adopted to the teaching of most major FLs and since this revolution has not yet had much impact on TAPL, the study explores the possibility of the application of the CA to the teaching of Arabic as a living language. The thesis is divided into 7 chapters. Chapter 1 introduces the importance of viewing the nature of language and FL teaching from a multidimensional point of view. Chapter 2 outlines the general nature and importance of the subject matter (i.e. the Arabic language) in a wide context. In order to understand what has directly or indirectly influenced the teaching practices of TAFL, Chapter 3 provides an overview of the development of views of FL teaching approaches and methods in recent times, from formalism (teacher-centred learning) to functionalism (student -centred learning). Chapter 4 concentrates on providing an interpretation of the current 'state of the art' of TPPL in Britain. A theoretical outline of the CA is presented in Chapter 5. This chapter provides a working hypothesis of a proposed integrative model for communicative competence that can be used as a practical reference tool in the relevant areas of communicative language development In TAPL. Chapter 6 focuses on one of these areas; communicative syllabus design, in which the stages in Arabic language programme development and types of communicative syllabuses are discussed. The last chapter concludes with a suggetion of specific further research needs in TAFL: communicative teaching methodology, communicative materials development, communicative testing techniques and communicative tea cher training.

xiii, 92 p. : ill. A print copy of this thesis is available through the UO Libraries. Search the library catalog for the location and call number. / Towards a more complete description of cleft constructions, this thesis comprises an investigation of the prosody, syntax, and information structure of IT clefts, REVERSE WH clefts, and existential THERE clefts in Spoken English. Cleft constructions were extracted from the Santa Barbara Corpus of Spoken American English on the basis of syntactic characteristics, and empirical methods were developed for evaluating clefts with respect to prosody and information structure factors. Native speaker-hearer judgments about cleft constructions in authentic spoken language were gathered to provide a basis for operational definitions of PROSODIC PROMINENCE, GIVENNESS, NEWNESS, CONTRASTIVENESS, and levels of contextual RELEVANCE. While cleft constructions have conventionally been discussed as contrastive focusing devices, the current study provides empirical evidence for a more complex view of clefts. Added to past corpus studies, this thesis shows that English cleft constructions exhibit a broader range of subtypes and functions than captured by traditional accounts. / Committee in Charge: Dr. Doris L. Payne; Dr. Melissa A. Redford

Although the areas I intend to investigate are rather diverse, what unites them is a concern for the ancient and fascinating question of the relationship between language and thought. Assumptions concerning the latter are surely latent as the basis for any inquiry into language. One of my general purposes is to give some overt orientation to this problem which is all too often simply glossed over. More particularly, I am also concerned with shaping a new approach to Bantu linguistic inquiry in terms of an emphasis on discourse analysis. In the context of the burgeoning of discourse analysis internationally, the field has been seriously neglected in Southern Africa. Studies of discourse are, we believe, vital to advancing our knowledge of inter-ethnic communication and understanding, an area that cannot be ignored in Southern Africa. In more general terms, I hope that this thesis represents a challenge to linguistic inquiry in ways that we have already outlined above. Most importantly, is that while it appears that most South African linguists are satisfied with adopting a rigid monotheoretical approach, I differ, advocating a multitheoretical perspective. This, I believe, allows a greater and more holistic view not only of the 'data' in question but also in terms of the general nature of inquiry, as well as the 'world' it attempts to describe. The body of this thesis is divided into two sections which reflect the two central concerns we have outlined above. Section A, divided into three chapters, is chiefly concerned with the conceptual basis of Xhosa narrative and its linguistic manifestation. In this section we shall find cause to query and to redefine traditional approaches to the linguistic categories manifest in Xhosa narrative. In section B, also divided into three chapters, we shall be concerned with the development of a theory of narrative production with specific reference to intsomi production. In this section we include an in depth criticism of previous approaches to this problem before developing and applying our own theory. There are two appendices attached to this thesis. The first presents certain tables and figures relevant to chapter 4. while the second includes the narrative texts from which we draw our examples. (Introduction, p. 21-22)

Japanese honorifics (JH) are challenging for learners of Japanese language to acquire due to their complex grammatical formulas. Textbooks tend to assume that the explanation of grammatical rules and drill exercises focusing on the rules are sufficient for learners to be competent in JH. However, functional issues related to honorifics such as how to use honorifics in socioculturally appropriate ways or how to deal with non-linguistic aspects of honorifics are likely to be ignored. The present study questioned the assumptions entailed in the traditional formoriented approach to teaching language, and examined an oral interview activity carried out by 24 students in a Japanese language course at a Canadian university. In this activity, the students interviewed Japanese professors using JH, and several types of data (i.e., the researcher observations and interviews with the participants and student written reflections on the interviews) were analyzed in order to find out students' practice (i.e., what students did) of and theory (i.e., how students perceived) about JH and oral interviews. The findings of the study present a very complex picture of students' practice and theory; they were engaged not only in the formation of the rules of JH but also in the functional areas such as non-verbal behaviour and conversation management. The data also revealed that students were very much concerned with functional areas during the interviews. From these findings, the study emphasizes the importance offunctions embedded in JH, and suggests that the Japanese teacher help learners acquire the functional competence dealing with JH as well as the linguistic competence. / Education, Faculty of / Language and Literacy Education (LLED), Department of / Graduate

M.A. (African Languages) / Please refer to full text to view abstract

Adopting both qualitative and quantitative approaches with a strong element of triangulation, the present research aimed to investigate the issues of reticence and anxiety in oral English classroom-learning and testing situations at the tertiary level in Mainland China. / Following the ground work phase, the main study, which was divided into two phases, got underway. In the first phase, a 124-item survey was distributed to approximately 570 first-year undergraduate non-English majors at three different proficiency levels at Tsinghua University; 547 valid questionnaires were processed. In the second phase, three English language classes (one from each different proficiency group) were selected for the case study which continued for the full term: the students were required to write reflective journals with one entry per week for six consecutive weeks, the teachers were asked to observe and keep a weekly record of the students' reticence and anxiety in classroom activities during the whole term, the three classes were observed and video-taped twice, 7 students from each group and their teachers were invited for semi-structured interviews, and the final oral English test given to the students was observed and video-taped. / The large-scale survey was analyzed using SPSS 11.00---descriptive statistics, reliability, correlation, factor analysis, t-test, and ANOVA to examine students' self-reported reticence and anxiety and their relationships with other variables such as students' self-rated English proficiency. The journals, interviews, and observations were subjected to a thematic content analysis to explore students' reticence and anxiety during oral English lessons and tests, and identify factors underlying reticence and anxiety in oral English classroom-learning and testing situations as well as corresponding coping strategies adopted by the participants. / The major findings were: (1) a considerable number of students self-reported and were observed to be reticent and nervous during oral English lessons and tests. The more proficient students tended to be less reticent and anxious, (2) the more reticent student tended to be more anxious during oral English lessons and tests, (3) reticence and anxiety negatively affected students' performance in oral English, (4) student reticence and anxiety varied from activity to activity in the classroom and changed during both the term and final oral English test, (5) multiple factors contributed to student reticence and anxiety during oral English lessons and tests, (6) the majority of the participants felt helpless about student reticence and anxiety. Most teachers and students were not aware of how to effectively cope with them, and (7) reticence and anxiety interacted with each other in both situations. Based on these findings, certain pedagogical implications were discussed to reduce students' reticence and anxiety in oral English classroom-learning and testing situations, thus enhancing the teaching and learning of oral English in Mainland China. In addition to contributing to the overall literature of research on reticence and anxiety in Chinese and FL learning contexts, the present research revealed some areas for future research. / Liu Meihua. / "July 2005." / Adviser: Jane Jackson. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 67-01, Section: A, page: 0167. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 336-360). / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Electronic reproduction. [Ann Arbor, MI] : ProQuest Information and Learning, [200-] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, MI : ProQuest Information and Learning Company, [200-] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Abstract in English and Chinese. / School code: 1307.

Thesis (MA)--University of Stellenbosch, 2003. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This study aims to investigate the speech act of complimenting in Xhosa. The study constitutes of six chapters with respective to execute this aim. Chapter one provides special details regarding the aim of this study, the method that has been followed, and the organisational structure of the study. Chapter two focuses on both speech act and politeness theories. The central notion relates to (a) the acts of locution, (b) illocution and (c) perlocution. These elements of speech acts entail the notion that utterances that are produced by participants in a conversation comprises of (a) the actual sounds and words uttered, and those words and sounds (b) are intended towards the fulfilment of the force or intention behind them and (c) the effect of that force is intended to the hearer. Although there are other related elements, this notion is prominent in this chapter. Chapter three examines speech acts of complimenting in Xhosa along with their responses. This examination is informed by various ideas from respective researchers. For an effective and successful investigation of speech acts, a guideline which serves as a base follows a model of ethnography of communication. Almost all these researchers are putting emphasis on this view. This chapter takes this issue further by exploring the differences in compliments and responses with reference to gender, along with other qualities that have been mentioned. The elements of the responses the principles, their nature, structure and appearance in general conversations with specific reference to complimenting, are other key properties examined in this chapter. Chapter four focuses on the functions of the compliments. For example, almost all the researchers in the field are in agreement that compliments serve to revitalize, establish or create or encourage solidarity. Although there are other functions relating to this speech act, such as replacing other conversational formulas, e.g. greetings, softening criticism, the function of solidarity is perceived to be central. Another area which receives attention is the structural qualities of the compliment, along with syntactic and lexical features. This analysis explores the syntactic categories that relate to this work, together with the formulaic nature of this speech act. In addition, the status and gender of the participants in an interaction, as informed by situations or friends who like to be complimented, are all matters that receive scrutiny in this chapter. Chapter five constitute the central part of the study. The differences in compliments and responses receive attention with the aim of establishing possible difference between compliments given by males and females. Chapter six is the last chapter, it presents the findings and conclusion of the study. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie studie het as doelstelling die ondersoek van die spraakhandeling van komplimentering in Xhosa. Die tesis beslaan ses hoofstukke wat gestruktureer is om uitvoering te gee aan hierdie doelstelling. Hoofstuk een gee spesifieke besonderhede betreffende die doelstelling van die studie, die metode wat gevolg word, en die organisasie van die studie. Hoofstuk twee fokus op spraakhandelingsteorie en hoflikheidsteorie. Die sentrale konsep hou verband met (a) die handelinge van lokusie, (b) ilokusie en (c) perlokusie. Hierdie elemente van spraakhandelinge behels die begrip dat die uitinge wat deur deelnemers in 'n gesprek geproduseer word bestaan uit (a) die werklike klanke en woorde wat geuiter word, en wat (b) die intensie het om uitdrukking te gee aan die fors daaragter, en (c) die effek is gerig op die hoorder. Hierdie oorweging is sentraal in die hoofstuk. Hoofstuk drie ondersoek die spraakhandeling van komplimentering in Xhosa tesame met die response daarop. Hierdie ondersoek word ingelig deur sieninge van verskillende navorsers. Vir die effektiewe ondersoek van spraakhandelinge, is 'n rigtinggewende basis vanuit die etnografie van kommunikasie nodig. Hierdie hoofstuk ondersoek die verskille in komplimente en die response daarop met betrekking tot gender en ander eienskappe. Die aspekte van die response, hulle beginsels, aard, en struktuur, en die gebruik daarvan in gesprekke wat komplimente bevat, word ondersoek. Hoofstuk vier fokus op die funksies van komplimente. Feitlik al die navorsers in die veld van komplimentering stem saam dat komplimente die doel het om solidariteit te skep of te versterk. Alhoewel daar ander funksies is van komplimentering, bv. die verplasing van gespreksformules, soos groet, kritiek, is die bevestiging van solidariteit sentraal. 'n Ander area wat aandag kry in die hoofstuk, is die strukturele kenmerke van komplimente, insluitende sintaktiese en leksikale kenmerke. Die analises behels 'n ondersoek na die sintaktiese kategorieë wat komplimente realiseer, tesame met die formule-agtige aard van komplimente as spraakhandelinge. Voorts word die status en gender van die gespreksgenote ondersoek. Hoofstuk vyf vorm die sentrale deel van die studie betreffende die bepaling van moontlike gender verskille in komplimente. Hoofstuk ses bied die samevatting en gevolgtrekkings van die studie. / ISISHWANKATHELO: Esi sifundo sikwiphulo lokuphanda ngezenzo zentetho zezincomo. Kuqulunqwe izahluko ezintandathu ezineenjongo ezahlukiyo ukufezekisa eli phulo. Isahluko sokuqala sinika umkhombandlela malunga nenjongo yesifundo, imethodi elandelweyo kananjalo nolwakhiwo zinikwa ingqwalasela. Isahluko sesibini sinika ingqwalasela kwithiyori yezenzo zentetho kananjalo neyentlonelo. Uluvo olungundoqo nolunika umdla kule ngxelo luqulathe izenzo ze (a) ilokhushini, (b) 1- ilokhushini ne (c) nephelokhushini. Ezi zenzo zixhibe ingcamango yokuba intetho eveliswa ngabo bathatha inxaxheba kunxibelelwano iqulathe (a) izandi zolwakhiwo Iwesigama, ukuze eso sigama (b) sijoliswe kwinjongo ethile ekuyimfuneko ukuba iphunyezwe ekugqibeleni (c) ifuthe laloo mpumelelo lingqale lowo kunxityelelwano naye okanye umphulaphuli. Nasekubeni ekhona namanye amasolotya axhagileyo, kodwa le ngcamango iphawuliweyo iphume izandla kwesi sahluko. Isahluko sesithathu siphonononga izenzo zeentetho zezincomo kananjalo neempendulo zazo. Olu phononongo lungqongwe zizimvo zeengcali eziphuma kwiinkalo ngeenkalo. Umkhombandlela osisikhokhelo kwiphulo lophando Iwezenzo zeentetho naziphi na, ukuze lube yimpumelelo kwaye lusulungeke kufuneka luiandeie imodeli okanye umgaqo weethinografi yonxibelelwano phantse bonke aba baphandi babeke umnwe kule ngcamango. Ngokunxusa oku, esi sahluko, xa sihlabela mgama, siphawula ngeyantlukwano yezincomo neempendulo zazo ngesini, nangezinye iimpawu ezikhankanyiweyo. Uqulunkqo Iwemigaqo yokuphendula, ubunjani, ubume nembonakalo yayo entethweni gabalala ngokunxulumene nezincomo ngamanye amasolotya abalulekileyo nanika umdla kwesi sahluko. Isahluko sesine sinika ingqwalaselo kwimisebenzi yesincomo. Umzekelo, phantse zonke ezi ngcali zikweli phulo ziyayingqina nento yokuba izincomo zivuselela , ziyila okanye zikhuthaza umanyano. Nangona ibonakala ikhona eminye imisebenzi ekhankanywayo engqonge esi senzo sentetho njengokuthabatha indawo yezinye zeefomuia zonxulumano, umz. imibulisi, ukuthomakalisa ugxeko-ncomo, olu luvo lomanyano lubonwa njengoluhamba phambili. Enye indima ephononongwayo ziimpawu zolwakhiwo Iwezincomo, kananjalo neempawu zesintaksi neleksikali. Olu hlalutyo lulo oludulisa izigaba zentetho ezibandakanyekayo kananjalo nobufomula besi senzo sentetho. Ukwaleka, iwonga nesini sabo bathabatha inxaxheba kolu nxibelelwano ngokulawulwa ziimeko okanye izihlobo ezikholisa ukunconywa, konke oku yimibandela efumana ukuphicothwa kwesi sahluko. Isahluko sesihlanu siqulathe umongo wesi sifundo. Uhlalutyo Iwezincomo neempendulo zazo lunikwa ingqwalasela ngamehlo abukhali; ngeenjongo zokufumanisa umahluko ongaba ukhona phakathi kwezincomo zamaduna namabhinqa. Isahluko sesithandathu nesokugqibela sinika iziphumo zophando nesiphelo sesi sifundo.

Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2001. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This study investigates the speech act of complaining in Xhosa. It is organized into six chapters. Chapter 1 states the aim of the study. The method, design and the organization of the study are also presented. In Chapter 2 the speech acts and politeness theories are presented as the basic framework of this study. It is clear that people do not only produce utterances, which contain grammatical structures and words when attempting to express themselves, but they always perform actions via those utterances. The actions people perform via their utterances are done in accordance within a certain area of linguistic pragmatics. Chapter 3 deals with the speech act of complaining as discussed by various theorists. Chapter 4 is concerned with complaints strategies. Here it is revealed that one must be able to voice one's annoyance or anger while at the same time it is important to avoid embarrassment by creating a situation in which it becomes impossible for him/her to face the aversiveness of taking the blame. Chapter 5 deals with complaint situations in Xhosa. In order to make sense of what is said during an interaction, various factors have been examined, which relate to social distance and closeness. The relative status of the participants is based on social values. Complaint situations are divided into three social groups: power relations, friendship and strangers. Power relations involve people of superior and low status. This group is divided into two subgroups: people with superior status to people with low status and vice versa; those speakers with a lower status in a Xhosa speaking context tend to mark social distance between themselves and higher status speakers. Among friends, there is no social distance because people tend to treat one another as equals. The same is true of strangers, although they don't know each other; they tend to treat one another with mutual respect. Most of the time complaints in Xhosa express disapproval or negative feelings towards the source of the complaint. Complaints sometimes can be impolite. They can lead to conflict as they are sometimes very threatening, accusing and cursing. That is why a number of strategies have been introduced to a complainant who wants to avoid direct confrontation with the complainee. The indirect accusation strategy is the number one tool, which is always used by the complainers to avoid conflict, unlike annoyance, direct accusation and explicit blame of the accused's action or of the accused as a person. People who use indirect accusations do not want to run the risk of losing face, unlike the direct accusation, which is face-threatening. Responding to a complaint is also an important factor as it promotes further interaction. Response serves as a way of displaying interest in what the speaker is saying. It has been noticed that response gives the speakers the opportunity to voice their feelings. Finally, Chapter 6 presents the conclusions of the investigation and the main findings of the study are summarized. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie studie ondersoek die spraakhandeling van klagte in Xhosa. Dit is georganiseer in ses hoofstukke. Hoofstuk 1 bied die doelstelling van die studie. Die metode, ontwerp en organisasie van die studie word ook bespreek. In Hoofstuk2 word die spraakhandelinge en beleefdheidsteorieë bespreek as die raamwerk van die studie. Dit word duidelik gemaak dat mense nie slegs uitinge produseer wat grammatikale strukture en woorde bevat nie, maar hulle voer altyd aksies uit via die uitinge. Hierdie aksies wat mense uitvoer via hulle uitinge word gedoen in ooreenstemming in bepaalde area van linguistiese pragmatiek. Hoofstuk 3 behandel in die besonder die spraakhandeling van klagte soos ondersoek deur verskillende navorsers. Hoofstuk 4 behandel klagte-strategieë. Hier word aangedui dat 'n spreker in staat moet wees om hy/sy se ontevredenheid of woede te lug terwyl dit terselfdertyd belangrik is om verleentheid te vermy deur die skep van 'n situasie waar dit vir hom/haar onmoontlik maak om te staan te kom voor die neem van die blaam. Hoofstuk 5 ondersoek klagte-situasies in Xhosa. Ten einde sin te maak oor wat gesê word en 'n interaksie, is verskeie faktore ondersoek wat verband hou met sosiale opstand en nabyheid. Die realtiewe status van die deelnemers word gebaseer op sosiale waardes. Klagte-situasies kan verdeel word in terme van drie sosiale groepe: magsverhoudinge, vriendskap en vreemdelingskap. Magsverhoudinge hou verband met die verhoudinge tussen mense met hoë en lae status. Hierdie groep word verdeel in twee sub-groepe: mense met superieuse status en mense met lae status en omgekeerd. Persone met 'n laer status in 'n Xhosasprekende konteks is geneig om sosiale afstand te markeer tussen hulleself en hoër status sprekers. Daar is geen sosiale opstand tussen vriende nie, omdat sulke persone geneig is om mekaar as gelykes te behandel. Dieselfde is waar van vreemdelinge, want alhoewel hulle mekaar nie ken nie, is hulle geneig om mekaar met respek te behandel. Die meeste van die klagtes oor tyd in Xhosa gee druk misnoeë of negatiewe gevoelens uit met betrekking tot die bron van die klagte. Klagtes kan soms onbeleefd wees. Hulle kan lei tot konflik, aangesien hulle soms baie bedreigend aantygend en beledigend kan wees. Daarom is 'n aantal strategieë beskikbaar vir 'n klaer wat direkte konfrontasie wil vermy teenoor die persoon waarteen gekla word. Die indirekte aantyging strategie is die voorkeur strategie wat deur die klaers gebruik word kom konflik te vermy, in teenstelling met kwaad word direkte aantyging en eksplisiete blaam van die aangetygde persoon se aksie of die persoon self. Persone wat indirekte aantygings gebruik, wil nie die risiko loop om "gesig" (face) te verloor nie, in teenstelling met die direkte aantyging, wat gesig-bedreiging is. Om te reageer op 'n klagte, is ook 'n belangrike faktor, aangesien dit verdere interaksie aanmoedig. Die gee van 'n reaksie is 'n wyse om aan te toon dat daar belangstelling is in wat die spreker sê. Daar is aangetoon dat 'n reaksie vir sprekers die geleentheid gee om hulle gevoelens te lug. Laastens, gee Hoofstuk 6 die gevolgtrekkings van die ondersoek, en die belangrikste bevindinge van die studie word opgesom.

published_or_final_version / abstract / Linguistics / Master / Master of Arts

The purpose of this paper is to contribute some knowledge of the vowel sounds in the speech of one part of East Texas, Gregg County. Although these sounds do not vary greatly from those heard in other parts of the South, the variations which do occur are of interest to the student of speech sounds, and for that reason the sounds studied are carefully recorded in this paper.