This thesis examines conceptions of gender revealed by people when assessing texts. The research questions are: What associations can be discerned between gender conceptions and ideas about the quality of texts? What features of content and style are perceived as female or male? The study seeks to develop a method for comparing different people’s assessments of the same text. The material was collected by means of questionnaires in which 114 informants were asked to assess three anonymous student texts and then guess the sex of the writer. The material has been analysed quantitatively by correlating the assessments of the texts with the guesses about the sex of the author, and qualitatively, as the informants’ freely worded assessments of the texts were analysed for content and form with the support of assumptions about how assessments are expressed in text. The result shows that the assessments do not significantly correlate with assumptions about the sex of the writer, although there is a tendency to regard textual flow as feminine. Informants rarely bring up gender spontaneously when assessing texts. The properties of a writer that are mentioned are instead intellectual capacity, ambitions, social background and self-confidence. But when informants are asked to guess the sex of the author and state reasons for their answers, dichotomous stereotypes appear, such as that men’s texts are characterized by individualism, a focus on facts, self-confidence, simplicity, and slovenly and terse language, whereas women are assumed to write altruistically, focusing on experiences, with care and complexity, and in a polished and narrative style. This thesis argues that writing is increasingly perceived as a female domain, and discusses the results of text assessment on the basis of Nicky Le Feuvre’s (2009) theories of the effect of feminization processes on the gender order.

This study investigates the manner in which cinematic visual translation styles can be used to incorporate dominant and subversive historical versions in fictional narratives constructed within the conspiracy film genre. Fictional characters in a conspiracy film are often tasked with a mission to discover the alternative historical accounts, accounts which for all intents and purposes are regularly kept hidden from the public eye. These accounts are presented as a plausible and often unconventional narrative which challenges the dominant version of events. A visual translation style is a term used to describe the various methods in which a film can be shot and edited in order to create a specific aesthetic and communicate a specific idea. These styles can consist of camera movements, shot sizes or editing techniques, all of which aid in communicating a specific idea in a film. This study analyses the conventions of the conspiracy film, with regard to the manner in which the alternative and dominant versions of historical accounts are constructed. Furthermore, the study explores how these alternative and hegemonic historical events are presented and communicated through the use of visual translation styles. Theorists such as Jean Baudrillard and David Bordwell are referenced when discussing the meaning and application of terms such as “truth”, “narrative” and “history” and to problematise these notions in the context of this particular genre. Other key notions investigated include aporia, metalanguage and object-language and notions of genre theory. The conceptual and theoretical framework regarding visual translation styles is further complemented by writers such as Don Fairservice and Ken Dancyger. / Dissertation (MA)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Drama / unrestricted

The aim of this essay is to examine how teachers work language-oriented by observing how metalanguage is used for text construction in Swedish school subject, and how this is made concrete to be comprehensible. To achieve the aim, the following two questions have been formulated: • Which metalanguage is used for text construction in Swedish school subject? • How does the metalanguage become comprehensible? Observartions was used to achieve the aim of this study. The aim was based on a teacher's pedagogical teacher-led teaching and how she worked with metalanguage and concept development to support pupil’s development of an effective school language. In summary, the results of the aim of this study shows that the metalanguage that were in focus where; recount, expert word, title, environmental events, time words, chronological order, and evaluation /final comment. These were concretized and contextualized by discussing each term and the pupil´s came up with explanations based on their experiences. The teacher guided and raised questions, problematized and raised issues that were discussed again. The metalanguage was also concretized by scaffolding and that was shown mainly through guiding talks and discussions on subject-specific concepts and subject matter, i.e. the study visit of Ica Maxi.

Syftet med detta examensarbete är att undersöka gymnasieelevers uppfattningar om kunskaper om grammatik och grammatikundervisning. Vi utforskar följande frågeställningar: Vilken användning uppfattar eleverna att de har av sina kunskaper om grammatik? Vad karaktäriserar den grammatikundervisning eleverna uppfattar att de får? Hur uttrycker eleverna att kunskaper om grammatik kan läras ut för att dessa kunskaper ska uppfattas som meningsfulla? Undersökningens metod är fenomenografiskt inspirerad då vi i analysprocessen har bearbetat materialet med hjälp av denna metod genom att kategorisera materialet i beskrivnings-kategorier. Materialet består av en enkätundersökning samt semistrukturerade fokusgrupps-intervjuer. Materialet har samlats in på två olika gymnasieskolor. Informanterna består av elever i årskurs två som läser kursen Svenska 2. Informanterna läser antingen på ett yrkesförberedande- eller ett högskoleförberedande program. Det insamlade materialet består av enkäter och fokusgruppsintervjuer som behandlar elevers uppfattningar. Materialet har kategoriserats i fyra beskrivningskategorier: Grammatik är poänglöst, Grammatik som kalldusch, En mer meningsfull grammatikundervisning samt Grammatik är viktigt för kommunikation.Vårt resultat visar på en mängd olika uppfattningar om kunskaper om grammatik och grammatikundervisning. Flertalet av informanterna uppfattar grammatikkunskaper som poänglöst eftersom de ändå kan göra sig förstådda. De upplever inte att de har någon användning för kunskaperna. Undervisningen upplevs som ett isolerat moment, som kommer från ingenstans och som de aldrig återkommer till. Kunskaper om grammatik upplevs trots allt som viktigt, men svårt och tråkigt. Informanterna eftersträvar en funktionaliserad grammatik-undervisning som utgår från deras erfarenheter och där de får en förklaring till varför kunskaperna är meningsfulla. Ett flertal informanter såg en användning för kunskaper om grammatik för att kunna kommunicera både i och utanför skolan.

Meaning has been established pervasively as a central concept throughout disciplines that were involved in cognitive revolution. Its metaphoric usage comes to be, first and foremost, through the interpreter’s constraint: representational relationships and contents are considered to be in the “eye” or mind of the observer and shared properties among observers themselves are knowable through interlinguistic phenomena, such as translation. Despite the instability of meaning in relation to its underdetermination by reference, it can be a tertium comparationis or “third comparator” for extended human cognition if gauged through invariants that exist in transfer processes such as translation, as all languages and cultures are rooted in pan-human experience and, thus, share and express species-specific ontology. Meaning, seen as a cognitive competence, does not stop outside of the body but extends, depends, and partners with other agents and the environment. A novel approach for exploring the transfer properties of some constituent items of the original natural semantic metalanguage in English, that is, semantic primitives, is presented: FrameNet’s semantic frames, evoked by the primes SEE and FEEL, were extracted from EuroParl, a parallel corpus that allows for the automatic word alignment of items with their synonyms. Large Ontology Multilingual Extraction was used. Afterward, following the Semantic Mirrors Method, a procedure that consists back-translating into source language, a translatological examination of translated and original versions of items was performed. A fully automated pipeline was designed and tested, with the purpose of exploring associated frame shifts and, thus, beginning a research agenda on their alleged universality as linguistic features of translation, which will be complemented with and contrasted against further massive feedback through a citizen science approach, as well as cognitive and neurophysiological examinations. Additionally, an embodied account of frame semantics is proposed.

Syftet med studien är att ge kunskap om användning av läsförståelsestrategierhos sex elever i årskurs 5 och hur medvetna de är om de strategier de användervid läsning. Studien utgår från sociokulturell teori, och materialet är insamlatvia sex deltagande observationer när elever i årskurs 5 utför en läsförståelseuppgift. En läsförståelsestrategi som eleverna använde var att reda ut oklarheter i form av betydelsen av vissa ord. En annan var att göra inferenser, vilketsamtliga sex elever visste att de skulle göra. En stor del av dem förstod dockinte hur de skulle göra, och de saknade ett metaspråk för att kunna förklara hurde gick till väga. Den typ av stöttning eleverna var i behov av var beroende avelevernas kunskapsnivå. De två elever med mest utvecklade kunskaper behövde minst stöttning medan de två med minst utvecklade kunskaper behövdemest stöttning, och de bad också om hjälp i större utsträckning än de övriga.

This thesis investigates the use of metalanguage and its relation to learning outcome in group discussions. Metalanguage is defined as a language about language, a way to talk about the features of a language using a specific vocabulary with great precision. It is suggested that metalanguage is necessary in order to develop the pupils' awareness when text analyses are carried out in school. The purpose of the study is to understand how pupils take on the task presented by the teacher, how they reach consensus, if and how they make use of some kind of metalanguage, and to what degree their discussions can be regarded as learning conversations. Twelve conversations in groups were recorded on video. The pupils were in the first or the final year of upper secondary school and they all attended either Natural Science Programme or Technology Programme. The conversations took place without the teacher being present. In three groups the conversation was observed by the researcher. The task was to talk about a phishing mail using questions provided by the teacher. The three observed conversations were transcribed following principles from Conversation Analysis, CA. The rest of the conversations were transcribed following a key close to written language in order to simplify the reading. Two analyses were carried out. First, the conversations were analysed regarding how to take on the task, interaction and use of metalanguage. Secondly, the structures of the conversations were analysed using concepts from systemic functional grammar. The results show that the conversations are symmetrical and co-operative and that the pupils are focused on solving the task. No metalanguage is used by the students; the discussions are performed using colloquial speech and dramatizations and referring to experiences. The absence of metalanguage is contrasted in effectiveness by the using of terms from the field of information technology. Using experiences from texts outside school proves to be a way of dealing with the task. However, experiences and results are not abstracted into scientific terms and no learning concerning language and text seems to take place. The using of concepts from systemic functional grammar shows that the pupils are mainly concerned with interpersonal aspects of the text, somewhat concerned with ideational aspects – especially logical – and to a less degree concerned with textual aspects. It is suggested that the lower degree of textual focus is related to the absence of metalanguage. It is also shown that the pupils discuss features of the text focusing on various strata of language. Although the pupils' frequent use of experiences from text encounters should be regarded as a great potential from a pedagogical point of view, the results indicate the need of a metalanguage to achieve precision and effectiveness in discussions about texts. Also, the need of instructions guiding the pupils to make use of metalanguage is indicated. The possibility of using concepts from systemic functional grammar is pointed out and further research is suggested.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-28T19:58:49Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertacao Adriane Roberta Ribeiro de Macedo.pdf: 654593 bytes, checksum: c29eac6f38caf415d4c87c648592285d (MD5) Previous issue date: 2005-11-10 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / The present dissertation has as objective to reflect on the process of construction of the narrative speech of Cacos para um vitral, workmanship of Adélia Prado, published in 1980. thus, we elaborate the following question: Knowing that the organization give to the composition to the romance Cacos para um vitral deives a digialogical construction, equivalent and multi-meaming, where is discursive dimension modality retakes the similar literal logic to the composition of stain glass window? Ahead of the object and the problematic one considered, we raise two hypotheses, first, the architextura of the composition of the stain glass window, second, the metalinguistic method cooperates with the assembly of double metaphor: stain glass window text. The research discloses, among other conclusions, that the organization of the text is brock up in direction, approaching the process of construction of the text and the composition of stain glass window / A presente dissertação tem como objetivo refletir sobre o processo de construção do discurso narrativo de Cacos para um vitral, obra de Adélia Prado, publicada em 1980. para tanto, elaboramos a seguinte pergunta: sabendo que a organização dada ao romance Cacos para um vitral deriva uma construção dialógica, equivalente e plurissignificativa, em que dimensão esta modalidade retoma a lógica textual similar à composição de um vitral? Diante do objetivo e da problemática propostos, levantamos duas hipóteses: primeira a arquitextura do romance Cacos para um vitral, retoma a modalidade discursiva metafórica da composição do vitral; segunda o método metalingüístico coopera com a montagem da dupla metáfora: texto-vitral. A pesquisa revela, entre outras conclusões, que a organização do texto é fragmentada no sentido de romper com as estruturas da linearidade. A metalinguagem é empregada no sentido operativo, aproximando o processo de construção do texto e a composição do vitral

(in English) The thesis deals with the topic of the role of metalanguage and metalinguistic terminology in English Language Teaching at Czech grammar schools. The concepts of metalanguage and metalinguistic terminology are viewed as one of the potential educational tools in the field of learning and teaching English grammar. The theoretical part of the thesis focuses, among other things, on benefits and limitations of the use of metalanguage, and on the suitability of conditions for the use of metalanguage, i.e. on the variables which may affect the educational process are discussed in this part as well. Moreover, an overview of the approaches to teaching grammar in relation to the use of metalanguage and metalinguistic terminology is provided in this chapter together with the summary of findings obtained from the studies concerned with learners or teachers knowledge of metalinguistic terminology. The empirical part is based on the questionnaire survey among Czech grammar school students and teachers. The main areas examined in the research are: learners' and teachers' attitudes to and beliefs about learning and teaching English and English grammar, learners' and teachers' attitudes to metalinguistic terminology as well as learners' knowledge of the terminology and teachers' awareness of the...

Notre travail interroge les différentes pratiques de création de Ghérasim Luca (livres-objets, albums, portfolios, plaquettes, poèmes-tracts et poèmes-affiches, récitals scéniques et télévisuels, cubomanies, dessins au point) à l’aune des expériences sémiotiques qu’elles engagent. Dire des signes qu’ils sont mis en jeu, c’est insister sur la dimension matérielle et éminemment sensible des mouvements de production et de réception. La question du sens est indissociable de celle du médium, dès lors que les signes se donnent à éprouver comme corps (corps sonores, corps graphiques ou typographiques) par des corps. La notion de surgissement permet de rendre compte de cette spatialité, qui a partie liée avec des phénomènes théâtraux, ceux d’apparition et de disparition : la page blanche, la bande sonore, l’écran, le panneau de bois peint, sont autant de lieux où peut s’inventer et se déployer une pensée incarnée. Quant à la notion d’opacification, employée en linguistique pour décrire certains phénomènes métadiscursifs, elle mérite d’être réévaluée et déplacée : nous nous efforçons de passer du domaine strictement verbal à un champ plus largement sémiotique.Notre parcours s’organise en quatre étapes solidaires, qui manifestent l’intrication des approches historiques, sémiotiques, linguistiques, médiologiques, stylistiques, mais aussi scientifiques et philosophiques. La première partie consiste en une exploration des créations plastiques, graphiques, sonores, qui intègre les diverses collaborations auxquelles Ghérasim Luca a pris part en Roumanie puis en France. La deuxième partie dégage un imaginaire linguistique, nourri de diverses traditions (l’atomisme de Lucrèce, l’alchimie, la Kabbale), qui fait du vide un principe structurant, et de l’écriture un travail d’agencement. Cet imaginaire, qui relève d’une pensée de la langue dans la langue, est lui-même volontiers mis à distance : il ne s’agit pas d’adhérer à ce qui serait une théorie, mais de circuler librement entre des conceptions apparemment inconciliables. La troisième partie décrit les jeux de perturbation du sens à partir du statut tout à fait singulier accordé aux autonymes, aux néologismes et aux noms propres dans les recueils de la période française : les divers types de trouble sémiotique et l’invention d’un hors-lexique participent d’un mouvement de déstabilisation. La quatrième et dernière partie est consacrée au geste de reprise, qui se décline sous de multiples formes, parmi lesquelles on compte le collage et le détournement. / This work questions the different practices of Ghérasim Luca (book-objects, albums, portfolios, booklets, pamphlet-poems, poster-poems, scenic and audiovisual recitals, cubomanies, drawings) in light of the semiotic experiences they initiate. Asserting that signs are at stake means insisting on the material and highly perceptible dimension of both production and reception. From the moment that signs are perceived as bodies (audible bodies, graphic and typographic bodies) by other bodies, the question of meaning is linked to the question of medium. With the notion of emergence, we can analyse spatial phenomena, linked to theatrical ones, such as appearance and disappearance : the white page, the audiotape, the screen, the wooden panels are places where an embodied thinking can arise and expand. The notion of opacification, which is used by linguists to describe metadiscursive phenomena, can be reconsidered and redefined : we try to exceed the verbal domain and to adopt a global semiotic perspective, which includes non-verbal matters.This study is composed of four interdependent parts, which show the interpenetration of historical, semiotic, linguistic, mediologic, stylistic but also scientific and philosophical approaches. The first part explores the plastic, graphic and audio creations of Ghérasim Luca, including collaborations with several artists in Romania and France. The second part identifies what we could call a linguistic imaginary, fuelled by three different traditions (Lucretius’ atomism, alchemy, Kabbalah), which considers void as a founding principle, and writing as a layout. This imaginary, which inquires the possibility of thinking about language within the language, is playfully held at a distance by Ghérasim Luca : the point is not to adopt a theory, but to circulate freely between apparently incompatible approaches. The third part describes various phenomena of meaning disruption and focuses on the specific status given to autonyms, neologisms and proper nouns in his French period : the different kinds of semiotic troubles and the invention of a lexicon beyond the lexicon take part in the destabilisation process. The fourth part is about the activity of re-creation, which takes several forms, including collage and ‘détournement’.