Thesis (PhD)--Stellenbosch University, 2013. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This study investigates the construction of Performance Assessment Discourses in three companies in the Western Cape, South Africa. The specific interest of is in how Performance Assessment Interviews (PAIs) are performed in terms of content, form, structure and social practice, and how managers and employees experience and make sense of this organizational practice. The study further investigates how individuals express their membership to communities of practice (CofPs) within the workplace, and seeks to identify obstacles (boundaries) in terms of acquiring and maintaining membership. This study is conducted within the broader framework of discourse analysis (DA) and employs genre theory and small story analysis as analytical tools. The 31 participants in this study are managers and employees of three participating companies in the Western Cape. They are L1 speakers of Afrikaans, English, isiXhosa and isiZulu, and are representative of a wide range of employment levels (lower-level employees to top management). Each individual participated in either a one-on-one interview or in a focus group discussion, which were audio-recorded and transcribed. During these interviews and discussion groups, individuals frequently resorted telling small stories in order to explicate their feelings, perceptions and positions on certain matters. The data confirms that several generic features of PAIs are identifiable and across all three companies, but that some unique features are also reported. Furthermore, the analysis shows that Performance Assessments are sites of struggles as dominant and competing discourses emerge from the data. Additionally, the study reveals that acquiring membership to CofPs in a diverse workplace is a complex endeavour and that language plays a determining role in acquiring membership, as well as in the construction of workplace identities. In conclusion, this study argues for further linguistic research within professional setting in South Africa, and suggests that CofP theory be revised and further developed to be more descriptive of diverse communities. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie studie ondersoek hoe Prestasiebestuur (PB) diskoerse in drie maatskappye in die Wes-Kaap gekonstrueer word. Die studie stel spesifiek belang in hoe prestasiebestuur gesprekke (PBG) uitgevoer word in terme van inhoud, vorm, struktuur en die sosiale praktyke wat daarmee saamhang. Verder word die manier waarop bestuurders en werkers PBGs ervaar en interpreteer ondersoek. Die studie ondersoek ook hoe individue hul lidmaatskap tot praktyk gemeenskappe (verskeie groeperinge wat praktyke deel) binne die werksplek beskryf en die struikelblokke identifiseer wat hulle verhoed om lidmaatskap te verwerf en te behou. Hierdie studie is uitgevoer binne die breër raamwerk van diskoersanalise (DA) en gebruik genre analise en klein verhaal analise as ontledingsmetodes. Die 31 deelnemers in die studie is bestuurders en werkers van drie deelnemende maatskappye in die Wes-Kaap. Hulle is eerstetaalsprekers van Afrikaans, Engels, Xhosa en Zoeloe en is verteenwoordigend van ʼn wye reeks posisies (vanaf junior posisies tot topbestuur). Elke individu het deelgeneem aan óf ʼn individuele onderhoud óf ʼn groepsbespreking. Hierdie onderhoude en besprekings is opgeneem en getranskribeer. Tydens die onderhoude en besprekings het die deelnemers telkens van ‘klein verhale’ gebruik gemaak om hul ervaringe en gevoelens te verwoord. Die data bevestig dat verskeie generiese eienskappe in PBGs geïdentifiseer kan word in al drie maatskappye maar dat daar wel sommige unieke eienskappe voorkom. Verder wys die analise uit dat binne PBs daar baie teenstellings bestaan en dat daar dominante en mededingende diskoerse in die data geïdentifiseer kan word. Die studie wys ook dat lidmaatskap tot ʼn praktykgemeenskap in ʼn diverse werksomgewing ʼn komplekse onderneming is. Dit blyk ook dat taal ʼn bepalende rol speel in die verwerwing van lidmaatskap, sowel as die manier waarop professionele identiteit gekonstrueer word. Verdere navorsing in professionele kontekste binne ʼn linguistiese raamwerk word aanbeveel. Die waarde van klein verhaal analise om diskoerse in professionele kontekste te ondersoek word beklemtoon en voorstelle word gemaak oor hoe die konsep ‘praktykgemeenskappe’ verder ontwikkel kan word om dit meer relevant te maak in die Suid-Afrikaanse konteks. / The ADA for funding this study

Contemporary studies of media Arabic often pass over issues of media form and the broader relevance of language use. The present thesis addresses these issues directly by examining the language used in Jordanian non-government radio programmes. It examines recordings and transcriptions of a range of programme genres - primarily, morning talk shows and 'service programmes' (barāmiž ḳadamātiyya), and Islamic advice programmes, both of which feature significant audience input via call-ins. The data are examined through an interpretive form of discourse analysis, drawing on linguistic anthropological theory that analyses language as a form of performance, through comparison of radio programmes as 'units of interaction'. This is supported by sociolinguistic data obtained from the recordings, including phoneme frequency analysis, in addition to the author's experience of 6 months of fieldwork in Jordan in 2014-15. The analysis focuses on four major themes: (1) the influence of media context, specifically the sonic exclusivity and temporal evanescence of radio, on language use, as well as the impact of digital media; (2) the indexicality of certain locally salient sociolinguistic variables, and the use to which they are put in radio talk; (3) the role of language in constructing the identity, or persona, of broadcasters; and (4) the role of language in constructing and validating authoritative discourse, in particular that of Islamic texts and scripture in religious programming. Through its analysis of these themes, using selected recording excerpts as demonstrative case studies, this thesis shows that specific strategies of Arabic use in the radio setting crucially affect both the publics - the addressed audiences - of radio talk, as well as the frameworks of participation in this talk - how and to what extent broadcasters and members of the public can participate in mediated discourse. The results demonstrate the unique value of an interpretive study of linguistic performance for highlighting broader social issues, including the inclusion and exclusion of particular segments of the society through linguistic strategies - Jordanians versus non-Jordanians, Ammanis versus non-Ammanis, and pious Muslims versus non-believers; and the use of language to reassert, or occasionally challenge, dominant ideologies and discourses, such as those of gender, nationalism, and religion. This study thus contributes an examination of contemporary Jordanian non-government radio language in its social and political context - something which has not been attempted before, and which provides important insights regarding both the nature of contemporary Arabic media language and its broader social and cultural import.

<p>The aim of this study is to investigate how language is used, online, in a condescending way in order to make the recipient feel belittled. The research questions sought to find out what kind of linguistic strategies are used online in order to make language function in a derogatory way as well as the linguistic reactions these strategies evoke in the recipients. How this derogatory usage can be met by using specific linguistic strategies was also explored.</p><p>The study was conducted by performing qualitative discourse analysis based on the theoretical framework of Culpeper’s (1996) impoliteness theory. The data consisted of excerpts from four different threads in online discussion forums. The results indicate that there are several ways to insult someone, and that sarcasm, in particular, is heavily utilized in order to make language function in a derogatory manner.</p><p>The conclusion of the study is that phenomena such as the flouting of maxims, face-threatening acts, impoliteness strategies and flaming are all utilized when trying to belittle someone. All these linguistic strategies performed with the intention to insult people have proved to have a negative affect on people who are exposed to them. This affect can be detected through the linguistic reactions they rendered, for example: counter-attacks with insults of their own and refuting the insults.</p><p>The present study contributes to enlightening linguistic strategies which are being used in a derogatory way and as such might function to raise awareness of the power invested in language.</p>

The aim of this study is to investigate how language is used, online, in a condescending way in order to make the recipient feel belittled. The research questions sought to find out what kind of linguistic strategies are used online in order to make language function in a derogatory way as well as the linguistic reactions these strategies evoke in the recipients. How this derogatory usage can be met by using specific linguistic strategies was also explored. The study was conducted by performing qualitative discourse analysis based on the theoretical framework of Culpeper’s (1996) impoliteness theory. The data consisted of excerpts from four different threads in online discussion forums. The results indicate that there are several ways to insult someone, and that sarcasm, in particular, is heavily utilized in order to make language function in a derogatory manner. The conclusion of the study is that phenomena such as the flouting of maxims, face-threatening acts, impoliteness strategies and flaming are all utilized when trying to belittle someone. All these linguistic strategies performed with the intention to insult people have proved to have a negative affect on people who are exposed to them. This affect can be detected through the linguistic reactions they rendered, for example: counter-attacks with insults of their own and refuting the insults. The present study contributes to enlightening linguistic strategies which are being used in a derogatory way and as such might function to raise awareness of the power invested in language.

Desde o início do século XX a música brasileira tem sido palco de discussões e negociações sobre a identidade nacional. Em diferentes momentos históricos, tensões ideológicas e projetos identitários produziram usos variados dos idiomas português e inglês, refletindo correntes de nacionalismo acirrado e outras vezes de abertura à influência estrangeira. No decorrer do século XX, a música tornou-se uma das mais importantes manifestações artísticas brasileiras no mundo e um instrumento de difusão de nossa língua e cultura. Os mitos nacionais que se formaram ao longo de nossa história e que resultaram no atual imaginário do Brasil acabaram por gerar utopias que foram e são de interesse mundial. A música é, ainda hoje, vista como ferramenta para o aumento do poder brando do Brasil. Vemos aqui como os usos do par de idiomas português-inglês foi utilizado de forma a retratar o jogo de poder e as tensões identitárias junto ao público estrangeiro. As traduções de canções brasileiras, a criação de versões bilíngues como meio de divulgar a diversidade cultural brasileira, assim como o papel de mediadores culturais e seu potencial de transformação das relações com o estrangeiro, também são discutidos neste trabalho / Since the early 20th century, Brazilian music has been the stage for discussions and negotiations on national identity. At different historical moments, ideological tensions and identity projects produced different uses of the Portuguese and English languages in music, either reflecting a fierce nationalism or else some openness to the influence of the foreign other. Along the 20th century, Brazilian music became one of the most important artistic manifestations in the world and an instrument for the dissemination of our language and culture. Brazilian national myths generated throughout history and that contribute to the current image of Brazil, also helped create utopias that were and still are of global interest. Music is seen today, as a tool for increasing Brazilian soft power. This thesis draws on how Portuguese and English have been used in order to portray the power play and identity tensions with the foreign public. Translations of Brazilian songs, the creation of bilingual versions, the promotion of Brazilian cultural diversity, as well as the role of cultural mediators and the potential for transformation of foreign relations, are also discussed in this work

<p>Communication in professional settings is essential to arriving at end results. Managers use speech acts to delegate, instruct, and in other ways get subordinates to perform everyday tasks. The present study aims to investigate how speech acts are performed using different politeness strategies, how these politeness strategies affect the motivation in subordinates, and how politeness can be used strategically in specific situations. The results indicate that politeness strategies used by managers are important for the motivation of subordinates and that different situations and different individuals call for different politeness strategies. Thus it is necessary for managers to make conscious and strategic linguistic choices adapted to specific situations and individuals.</p>

Desde o início do século XX a música brasileira tem sido palco de discussões e negociações sobre a identidade nacional. Em diferentes momentos históricos, tensões ideológicas e projetos identitários produziram usos variados dos idiomas português e inglês, refletindo correntes de nacionalismo acirrado e outras vezes de abertura à influência estrangeira. No decorrer do século XX, a música tornou-se uma das mais importantes manifestações artísticas brasileiras no mundo e um instrumento de difusão de nossa língua e cultura. Os mitos nacionais que se formaram ao longo de nossa história e que resultaram no atual imaginário do Brasil acabaram por gerar utopias que foram e são de interesse mundial. A música é, ainda hoje, vista como ferramenta para o aumento do poder brando do Brasil. Vemos aqui como os usos do par de idiomas português-inglês foi utilizado de forma a retratar o jogo de poder e as tensões identitárias junto ao público estrangeiro. As traduções de canções brasileiras, a criação de versões bilíngues como meio de divulgar a diversidade cultural brasileira, assim como o papel de mediadores culturais e seu potencial de transformação das relações com o estrangeiro, também são discutidos neste trabalho / Since the early 20th century, Brazilian music has been the stage for discussions and negotiations on national identity. At different historical moments, ideological tensions and identity projects produced different uses of the Portuguese and English languages in music, either reflecting a fierce nationalism or else some openness to the influence of the foreign other. Along the 20th century, Brazilian music became one of the most important artistic manifestations in the world and an instrument for the dissemination of our language and culture. Brazilian national myths generated throughout history and that contribute to the current image of Brazil, also helped create utopias that were and still are of global interest. Music is seen today, as a tool for increasing Brazilian soft power. This thesis draws on how Portuguese and English have been used in order to portray the power play and identity tensions with the foreign public. Translations of Brazilian songs, the creation of bilingual versions, the promotion of Brazilian cultural diversity, as well as the role of cultural mediators and the potential for transformation of foreign relations, are also discussed in this work

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / This research aims to understand how the journalism production instance processes the communication contract (Charaudeau [1997], 2009) in social media, through the analysis of semio-linguistic strategies. It is delimited to publications (posts) of the pages (fanpages) maintained by four Brazilian news organizations on Facebook - Estado de S. Paulo, O Globo, Folha de S. Paulo and Zero Hora. The objectives are to map out the main features and functionalities of Facebook as digital social media device for journalism; identify in the speech, the external and internal information data on contract of communication presents in selected pages; recognize semio-linguistic strategies developed by pages in their posts; and contribute to extend to digital social media devices the methodology proposed by Charaudeau for the study of communication contract. The methodological approach includes the exploratory observation of the pages, selection and categorization of publications in two periods (February-June 2014 and the same period of 2015) and applying semio-linguistic analysis protocol to a week composed of every page in 2015. In addition to strength the role of providing information in your posts, pages explore characteristics of social media. They could be identified as the agency marks between journalism and Facebook conversational language, relational purpose, and self-referential purpose. The results may point out the presence of hybrid relations between social media and informative contract, which develop through socio-technical associations, in a typical mediatized ecosystem process. / Esta pesquisa tem como objetivo geral compreender como a instância de produção do jornalismo processa o contrato de informação (CHARAUDEAU [1997], 2009) nas mídias sociais digitais, por meio da análise de estratégias semiolinguísticas. Está delimitada às publicações (posts) das páginas (fanpages) mantidas por quatro organizações jornalísticas brasileiras no Facebook Estado de S. Paulo, O Globo, Folha de S. Paulo e Zero Hora. Os objetivos específicos são mapear as principais características e funcionalidades do Facebook como dispositivo de mídia social digital para o jornalismo; identificar, no discurso, os dados externos e internos do contrato de informação nas postagens das páginas selecionadas; reconhecer as estratégias semiolinguísticas desenvolvidas pelas páginas em seus posts; e contribuir para ampliar aos dispositivos de mídia social digital os pressupostos de Charaudeau para o estudo dos contratos de comunicação. A metodologia inclui observação exploratória nas páginas, seleção e categorização de publicações de dois períodos (fevereiro a julho de 2014 e mesmo intervalo de 2015) e aplicação de protocolo de análise semiolinguística a uma semana composta de cada página no ano de 2015. Além de reforçarem o papel de fornecimento de informação em seus posts, as páginas exploram características da mídia social. Podem ser identificadas como marcas do agenciamento entre jornalismo e Facebook a linguagem conversacional, finalidade relacional e propósito autorreferencial. Percebem-se, com a pesquisa, relações híbridas entre mídia social e contrato informativo, que se desenvolvem por meio de associações sociotécnicas, em um processo típico do ecossistema midiatizado.

Just nu pågår det en debatt i media kring rapkulturen och dess omtalade koppling till kriminalitet. Rapartister ses ofta som influerare till gängkriminella kretsar på grund av deras låttexter som ofta handlar om mörker, knark och brott. Media rapporterar flitigt om rapparnas relation till kriminalitet i artiklar som bland annat kan handla om skjutningar och sprängningar. I ljuset av den ständiga debatten som pågår kring rapkulturen, undersöker denna studie hur rapkulturen som fenomen representeras i media.   Studiens teoretiska perspektiv är: gestaltningsteorin, representationsteorin, stereotyper i media, diskursteori: makt och ideologi, samt hiphop som populärkultur och subkultur. Den tidigare forskningen i studien handlar om rapkulturens mediehistoria, att musikgenren anses vara en samhällsfara, medias roll i samhället, representationen av människor samt journalisternas gestaltningar som agerar bidragande faktorer.   Studien har genomförts med hjälp av en kritisk diskursanalys där totalt 14 artiklar valts ut. Sju från Sveriges största kvällstidning, Aftonbladet, och sju från Sveriges största morgontidning, Dagens Nyheter.  Slutsatsen som kunde dras var att svensk journalistik tenderar att rama in rapkulturen på ett stereotypiskt sätt. Rapparna framställs som kriminella och en grupp utanför samhället. Diskurser som förekom förr i tiden tycks även leva kvar och bilden som människor hade om rapkulturen under 80-talet präglar fortfarande samhället (Rutherford, 2001). Diskurserna vi syftar på är framförallt kriminalitet, lojalitet, hämnd, samhällsproblem, utanförskap/förtryck samt stereotyper. Slutligen fann vi att Aftonbladet och Dagens Nyheter både befäster och stärker kopplingen mellan rapkulturen och kriminalitet. För att exemplifiera, skrev Dagens Nyheter följande i en artikel “Jag tror att hans namn blivit ett som många förknippar med våld och kriminalitet” (Admund Funck, 2023), med namn syftar de på rapartisten Yasin. Det fanns inget ur det empiriska materialet som visade på att de motverkade den relationen.  Den svenska forskningen inom det valda ämnesområdet är hyfsat begränsad och inom snar framtid önskar vi att fler kommer fördjupa sig och forska vidare om rapkulturen. Några önskemål från vår sida hade varit att undersöka hur rapartisterna själva uppfattar medias rapportering av dem, samt om det finns några likheter eller skillnader på hur kommersiella- kontra icke-kommersiella medier framställer rapkulturen. / There is currently a debate in the media about rap culture and its alleged link to crime. Rap artists are often seen as influencing gang criminal circles because of their lyrics, which are often about darkness, drugs and crime. The media report extensively on rappers' relationship with crime in articles that can include shootings and explosions. In light of the ongoing debate about rap culture and its practitioners, this study examines how rap culture as a phenomenon is represented in the media.   The study's theoretical perspectives are: framing theory, representation theory, stereotypes in the media, discourse theory: power and ideology, and hip hop as popular culture and subculture. The previous research in the study deals with the media history of rap culture, the fact that the music genre is considered a danger to society, the role of the media in society, the representation of people and the journalists' portrayals that act as contributing factors.   The study was conducted using a critical discourse analysis where a total of 14 articles were selected, seven from Sweden's largest evening newspaper Aftonbladet and seven from Sweden's largest morning newspaper Dagens Nyheter.  The conclusion that could be drawn was that Swedish journalism tends to frame the rap culture in a stereotypical way. Rappers are portrayed as criminals as a group outside society. Discourses that existed in the past also seem to live on and the image that people had of the rap culture during the 1980s still characterizes society (Rutherford, 2001). The discourses we are referring to are mainly crime, loyalty, revenge, social problems, exclusion/oppression and stereotypes. Finally, we found that Aftonbladet and Dagens Nyheter both confirm and strengthen the link between rap culture and crime. As an example, Dagens Nyheter wrote the following in an article "I think his name has become one that many people associate with violence and crime" (Admund Funck, 2023), by name they mean the rap artist Yasin. There was nothing in the empirical material that showed that they countered that relationship.  The Swedish research in the chosen subject area is fairly limited and in the near future we hope that more people will immerse themselves in and research the rap culture further. Some wishes from our side would have been to investigate how the rap artists themselves perceive the media's reporting of them, and whether there are any similarities or differences in how commercial versus non-commercial media portrays the rap culture.

Rural and remote areas of Australia remain the last bastion of health disadvantage in a developed nation with an enviable health score-card. During the last ten years, rural and remote health has emerged as a significant issue in the media and the political arena. This thesis examines print media, policy documents and interviews from selected informants to ascertain how they represent medical practitioners and health services in rural and remote areas of Australia, why they do so, and the consequences of such positions. In many of these representations, rural and remote medical practitioners are aligned with national and cultural mythologies, while health services are characterised as dysfunctional and at crisis point. Ostensibly, the representations and identity formulations are aimed at redressing the health inequities in remote rural and Australia. They define and elaborate debates and contestations about needs and claims and how they should be addressed; a process that is crucial in the development of professional identity and power (Fraser; 1989). The research involves an analysis and critical reading of the entwined discourses of culture, power, and the politics of need. Following Wodak and others (1999), these dynamics are explored by examining documents that are part of the discursive constitution of the field. In particular, the research examines how prevailing cultural concepts are used to configure the Australian rural and remote medical practitioner in ways that reflect and advance socio-cultural hegemony. The conceptual tools used to explore these dynamics are drawn from critical and post-structural theory, and draw upon the work of Nancy Fraser (1989; 1997) and Ruth Wodak (1999). Both theorists developed approaches that enable investigation into the effects of language use in order to understand how the cultural framing of particular work can influence power relations in a professional field. The research follows a cultural studies approach, focussing on texts as objects of research and acknowledging the importance of discourse in the development of cultural meaning (Nightingale, 1993). The methodological approach employs Critical Discourse Analysis, specifically the Discourse Historical Method (Wodak, 1999). It is used to explore the linguistic hallmarks of social and cultural processes and structures, and to identify the ways in which political control and dominance are advanced through language-based strategies. An analytical tool developed by Ruth Wodak, Rudolf de Cillia, Martin Reisigl and Karin Leibhart (1999) was adapted and used to identify nationalistic identity formulations and related linguistic manoeuvres in the texts. The dissertation argues that the textual linguistic manoeuvres and identity formulations produce and privilege a particular identity for rural and remote medical practitioners, and that cultural myth is used to popularise, shore up and advance the goals of rural doctors during a period of crisis and change. Important in this process is the differentiation of rural and remote medicine from other disciplines in order to define and advance its political needs and claims (Fraser, 1989). This activity has unexpected legacies for the rural and remote health sector. In developing a strong identity for rural doctors, discursive rules have been established by the discipline regarding roles, personal and professional characteristics, and practice style; rules which hold confounding factors for the sustainability of remote and rural medical practice and health care generally. These factors include: the professional fragmentation of the discipline of primary medical care into general practice and rural medicine; and identity formulations that do not accommodate an ageing workforce characterised by cultural diversity, decreasing engagement in full time work, and a higher proportion of women participants. Both of these factors have repercussions for the recruitment and retention of rural and remote health professionals and the maintenance of a sustainable health workforce. The dissertation argues that the formulated identities of rural and remote medical practitioners in the texts maintain and reproduce relationships of cultural, political and social power. They have also influenced the ways in which rural and remote health services have been developed and funded. They selectively represent and value particular roles and approaches to health care. In doing so, they misrepresent the breadth and complexities of rural and remote health issues, and reinforce a reputational economy built on differential professional and cultural respect, and political and economic advantage. This disadvantages the community, professions and interest groups of lower value and esteem, and other groups whose voices are often not heard. Thus, regardless of their altruistic motivations, the politics of identity and differentiation employed in the formulated identities in the texts are based on an approach that undermines the redistributive goals of justice and equity (Fraser 1997), and works primarily to develop and advantage the discipline of rural medicine.