This thesis explores why instructors should use narrative intentionally and effectively with reflection to better understand adult students' perceptions of experiential learning activities in technical communication. The frequent use of narrative in technical discourse reminds us that the tone of technical texts is often appropriately informal, personable, and reflective. A closer analysis of narratives provides instructors with valuable opportunities to learn more about the motivations for and barriers to learning for adult students and to better understand how these students situate themselves in larger social and cultural narratives. Narrative serves many purposes in technical communication. Not only does narrative add a human element to technical discourse, but it also invites interrogation and inquiry into the technical communicator's decision-making process. For these reasons, narrative is commonly paired with reflection exercises in experiential learning programs as a way for students to make sense of their learning experiences. If instructors can capture the essence of how adult students make sense of their learning experiences, they can determine if experiential learning is an effective pedagogical approach to teaching technical communication to adult students. Using examples of ongoing, initial and summative, and alternative reflection exercises, I illustrate how narrative can be used to facilitate the learning process in adult students and gain access to these students' perceptions of experiential learning activities in technical communication.

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The purpose of this study is to find out if teaching the students how to use the writing process will improve the content of their work.

The basic aim of this study is to investigate the nature of the narrative, concerning itself with the structures inherent in a system of signs which reveals the communicative function of literature. The general aim is to interpret the meaning of the narrative against the cultural background. The study makes a synthesis of formalist and structuralist points of view on the relations between story and discourse. A comparison of the oral and written narratives reveals that the discourse of the latter displays more artistry than that of the former. An examjnation of the problems of theme selection and development in the Northern Sotho prose narrative, from the point of view of African literature, is made. This reveals that the South African censorship laws have caused the emergence of sophisticated writers with a highly developed artistic way of portraying the South African situation sensitively by making it speak for itself. The study also examines some aspects of character in the narrative, analyzing the actions of characters in the story rather than psychological essences about them, and showing how these characters help the reader to understand the narrator's moral vision of the world. A comparison of the narrative techniques in the oral and the written narrative shows that in the former, the narrator is limited by tradition to the actions and the events that can be seen or heard, while the narrator in the latter can even describe what his characters are thinking or feeling. The study finally examines the relationship between symbolism and culture in the Northern Sotho narrative to reveal the general African philosophy in which -life is perceived as a perpetual journey undertaken by the hero from the natural to the non-natural world, whence he returns to the original world after experiencing moral lassitude and frustration. In the conclusion it is observed that both the oral and the written narratives deal with the intricacies of life as series of patterns and developments. The functional nature of the traditional African aesthetics reflected in the narratives prescribes the study of their meaning against the African cultural background. / African Languages / D. Litt. et Phil. (African Languages)

Thesis (MA (African Languages))--University of Stellenbosch, 2009. / The purpose of this study is to examine message production and image restoration in the narratives of isiXhosa-speaking farming communities. According to Gergen (1994), narrative forms – such as the stability narrative, progressive narrative and regressive narrative – are linguistic tools that have important social functions to fulfil. Gergen (1994) further indicates that self-narratives are social processes in which individuals are realised on the personal perspective or experience. The self-narratives used and analysed in this study portray the contemporary, truth-based elements of a well-formed narrative. Narrative accounts are also embedded within social action; they render events socially visible and typically establish expectations for future events because the events of daily life are immersed in narrative. The study starts by laying the foundation for the reasons why human beings tell stories and why stories are so important in people’s daily lives, since most people begin their encounters with stories at childhood. Possibly because of this intimate and long-standing acquaintance with stories from childhood, stories also serve as critical means by which human beings make themselves intelligible within the social world. This study further examines the motivations and conditions for account-giving in isiXhosa. Accounts are similar to narratives and can be retained at the level of private reflections for others to read, to be educated and to learn from and to refer to from time to time. Gergen (1994) considers self-narratives as forms of social accounting or public discourse. In this sense, narratives are conversational resources, their construction open to continuous alteration as interaction progresses. The study elaborates on this phenomenon, especially in the narrative accounts of the various isiXhosa stories that were collected and analysed. What emerges from the analyses is that the individual characters whose stories are told are portrayed as moving through their experience, dealing with some conflict or problem in their lives and, at the same time, searching for a resolution. It also emerges from the collection of these various isiXhosa narratives that they sharpen our understanding of the major stressful situations in each person’s mind and how the individual reasons about the difficulties encountered in life. The narratives prove, in this regard, to be a cultural resource that serves social purposes, such as self-identification, self-justification, self criticism and social solidification. In this sense then, for an account to be true, it has to be goal-orientated and relate to people’s day-to-day lives. The study finds that the social-interactive aspects of account-giving involve severe reproach forms, including personal attacks and derogatory aspects, which elicit defensive reactions resulting in negative interpersonal and emotional consequences.

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

鄺可怡. / 論文(哲學碩士) -- 香港中文大學硏究院中國語言及文學學部, 1998. / 參考文獻: leaves 337-384. / 中英文提要. / Kuang Keyi. / Chapter 第一章 --- 導論 --- p.1-27 / Chapter 第一節 --- 小引 / Chapter 第二節 --- 張大春對「新聞小說」、「歷史小說」的論述 / Chapter 一、 --- 張大春「新聞小說」、「歷史小說」的硏究範圍 / Chapter 二、 --- 張大春「新聞小說」、「歷史小說」和「政治小說」 的關係 / Chapter 1. --- 論者對張大春「政治小說」的討論 / Chapter 2. --- 張大春對「政治小說」評論的回應 / Chapter 三、 --- 張大春對「小說」和「新聞」、「歷史」關係的論述 / Chapter 第三節 --- 張大春有關小說敘事形式的討論 / Chapter 一、 --- 強調小說敘事形式的實驗 / Chapter 二、 --- 小說敘事形式的主張 / Chapter 1. --- 展現小說「敘述」本身的價値 / Chapter 2. --- 從傳統敘事形式的破壞改變讀者的期待閾 / Chapter 第四節 --- 張大春「新聞小說」、「歷史小說」及敘事形式的 評價 / Chapter 一、 --- 論者對張大春「新聞小說」、「歷史小說」的評價 / Chapter 二、 --- 論者對張大春敘事手法的評價 / Chapter 第五節 --- 小結 / Chapter 第二章 --- 本文硏究目的和方法 --- p.28-37 / Chapter 第一節 --- 本文硏究目的 / Chapter 第二節 --- 本文硏究方法 / Chapter 一、 --- 從小說的敘事結構探討小說主題 / Chapter 二、 --- 「敘事學」以及其他理論的配合運用 / Chapter 1. --- 敘事學理論框架的應用 / Chapter 2. --- 敘事學的局限以及其他理論的配合運用 / Chapter 三、 --- 文献資料的應用 / Chapter 第三章 --- 張大春「新聞小說」和「歷史小說」的主題脈絡及 寫作背景 --- p.38-59 / Chapter 第一節 --- 「解嚴」前後台灣社會的急劇轉變 / Chapter 一、 --- 政治：「解嚴」帶來的急劇變化 / Chapter 1. --- 「解嚴」以前的政治氛圍（1986-87) / Chapter 2. --- 「解嚴」初年的政治氛圍（1987-90) / Chapter 二、 --- 社會：權力中心的挑戰 / Chapter 1. --- 「解嚴」前後台灣社會的綜合分析 / Chapter 2. --- 台灣社會「傳媒」角色的改變 / Chapter 第二節 --- 張大春「新聞小說」、「歷史小說」的主題脈絡及對 台灣社會的回應 / Chapter 一、 --- 張大春對文學與社會關係的討論 / Chapter 1. --- 文學對社會、政治的影響力 / Chapter 2. --- 文學面對傳播媒體的發展 / Chapter 二、 --- 張大春「新聞小說」、「歷史小說」對台灣社會的 回應 / Chapter 1. --- 張大春「新聞小說」、「歷史小說」與社會關係的 討論 / Chapter 2. --- 張大春「新聞小說」、「歷史小說」兩大主題脈絡 / Chapter (i) --- 宣告一切敘述的虛構性 / Chapter (ii) --- 以小說「介入」現實 / Chapter 第四章 --- 張大春「新聞小說」、「歷史小說」敘述元素的綜合 比較和分析 --- p.60-77 / Chapter 第一節 --- 敘述者 / Chapter 第二節 --- 聚焦 / Chapter 第三節 --- 敘述層次 / Chapter 第四節 --- 敘述時間和敘事時間 / Chapter 一、 --- 敘述時間 / Chapter 二、 --- 時間序列 / Chapter 第五節 --- 小結 / Chapter 第五章 --- 〈印巴茲共和國事件錄〉對客觀「呈現」的探討 --- p.78-97 / Chapter 第一節 --- 小引 / Chapter 第二節 --- 〈印巴茲共和國事件錄 〉 對客觀「呈現」的模式 / Chapter 一、 --- 〈印巴茲共和國事件錄〉的「事件敘事」 / Chapter 1. --- 敘事信息量增多 / Chapter 2. --- 敘事者減低介入程度 / Chapter 二、 --- 〈印巴茲共和國事件錄〉的「言語敘事」 / Chapter 第三節 --- 敘事學以外其他元素的運用 / Chapter 一、 --- 新聞報導形式的借用 / Chapter 二、 --- 社會科學的分析架構 / Chapter 第四節 --- 〈印巴茲共和國事件錄 〉對客觀「呈現」敘事模式的 反省 / Chapter 一、 --- 敘事者道破寫作題旨 / Chapter 二、 --- 諧擬「菲律賓政變」的新聞報導 / Chapter 第五節 --- 小結 / Chapter 第六章 --- 〈 將軍碑 〉 從敘事時間的設計質疑歷史書寫 --- p.98-131 / Chapter 第一節 --- 小引 / Chapter 第二節 --- 〈將軍碑〉的敘事時間分析 / Chapter 一、 --- 序列：時間倒錯的淡化 / Chapter 1. --- 小說單元部份的分析 / Chapter 2. --- 小說的整體時間分析 / Chapter 二、 --- 時距：小說的敘事「快板」 / Chapter 1. --- 從敘事學角度的分析 / Chapter 2. --- 影響敘事速度的其他小說元素 / Chapter (i) --- 張大春所言「人物角色意志的速度感」 / Chapter (ii) --- 〈將軍碑〉裡人物角色意志與小說敘述速度的關係 / Chapter 三、 --- 頻率 / Chapter 第三節 --- 〈將軍碑〉與「魔幻現實主義」小說「似是而非」的 關係 / Chapter 第四節 --- 〈將軍碑〉 敘事時間的處理對歷史書寫的質疑 / Chapter 一、 --- 〈將軍碑〉對直線發展時間觀念的破壞 / Chapter 二、 --- 〈將軍碑〉對因果邏輯的破壞 / Chapter 第五節 --- 小結 / Chapter 第七章 --- 〈大說謊家〉敘述者以及敘述交流模式的探討 --- p.132-169 / Chapter 第一節 --- 小引 / Chapter 第二節 --- 《大說謊家》敘述者的基本分析及與「後設小說」的 關係 / Chapter 一、 --- 全知敘述者的顛覆 / Chapter 二、 --- 顯露敘述者的超越 / Chapter 三、 --- 無信無不信的敘述者 / Chapter 第三節 --- 《大說謊家》對傳統敘述交流模式的改變 / Chapter 一、 --- 《大說謊家》的敘述交流情況 / Chapter 二、 --- 《大說謊家》敘述者以外各種干擾的聲音 / Chapter 1. --- 指涉現實世界的「本文作者」 / Chapter 2. --- 指涉現實世界的「編者」 / Chapter 3. --- 指涉現實世界的「本文讀者」 / Chapter 第四節 --- 小結 / Chapter 第八章 --- 《沒人寫信給上校》的敘述層次分析 --- p.170-199 / Chapter 第一節 --- 小引 / Chapter 第二節 --- 《沒人寫信給上校》外、內敘述層次分析 / Chapter 一、 --- 敘述外層 / Chapter 二、 --- 敘述內層 / Chapter 第三節 --- 《沒人寫信給上校》的「換層敘述」及對後設小說的 轉化 / Chapter 一、 --- 小說中換層敘述的分析 / Chapter 二、 --- 小說的換層敘述對後設小說的轉化 / Chapter 第四節 --- 小說從「敘述層次」的設計回應新聞事件 / Chapter 一、 --- 「正文合倂註釋」的敘述層 / Chapter 二、 --- 換層敘述下既超然又局限的敘事者 / Chapter 三、 --- 「向心的」換層敘述 / Chapter 第五節 --- 小結 / Chapter 第九章 --- 《撒謊的信徒》從聚焦設計表現對現實隱價 --- p.200-240 / Chapter 第一節 --- 小引 / Chapter 第二節 --- 《撒謊的信徒》的聚焦分析 / Chapter 一、 --- 敘述者一外聚焦者 / Chapter 二、 --- 受聚焦者兼內聚焦者：李政男 / Chapter 三、 --- 受聚焦者 / Chapter 1. --- 不參與故事發展的受聚焦者 / Chapter 2. --- 參與故事發展的受聚焦者 / Chapter 第三節 --- 《撒謊的信徒》聚焦方式的設計與評價關係 / Chapter 一、 --- 聚焦者觀點之間的落差 / Chapter 二、 --- 「人物一受聚焦者」的並置比對 / Chapter 1. --- 不參與故事發展的「人物一受聚焦者」 / Chapter 2. --- 參與故事發展的「人物一受聚焦者」 / Chapter 第四節 --- 小結 / Chapter 第十章 --- 總論 --- p.241-255 / Chapter 第一節 --- 小引 / Chapter 第二節 --- 張大春「新聞小說」和「歷史小說」的評價 / Chapter 一、 --- 從「上下求索」到「不假外求」的敘事形式探索 / Chapter 二、 --- 小說寫作與閱讀層面的開拓 / Chapter 第三節 --- 本文硏究方法的檢討 / Chapter 一、 --- 「敘事學」轉化運用的試驗 / Chapter 二、 --- 整體硏究方法的回顧 / Chapter 第四節 --- 結語 / 附錄 --- p.256-336 / Chapter 一、 --- 本文敘事學理論框架的設定 / Chapter 二、 --- 凱南《敘事虛構作品：當代詩學》硏究對象資料整理 / Chapter 三、 --- 《大說謊家》第一章新聞元素與《中國時報》 報導比較 / Chapter 四、 --- 《沒人寫信給上校》小說人物與現實對應關係 / Chapter 五、 --- 《沒人寫信給上校》故事事件時間序列 / Chapter 六、 --- 「尹淸楓命案」新聞資料整理 / Chapter 七、 --- 《撒謊的信徒》故事人物與現實對應關係 / Chapter 八、 --- 小說人物李政男與李登輝比較 / 《撒謊的信徒》故事事件時間序列 / 參考書目 --- p.337-384

Doris Lessing and Tsitsi Dangarembga write fiction set in Zimbabwe, the former Southern Rhodesia. Although Lessing grew up as a white settler and Dangarembga, a generation later, as part of the colonized African population, the women sometimes address similar issues. Both write of young girls trying to find a speaking position; under colonialism, what they want to say cannot be said. Lessing's first-person stories differ from her more distant third-person works, which show how white settlers either refuse to recognize their own complicity within the colonial system or accept living a compromised life. Her younger narrators are as yet innocent; the stories often focus on the character's discovery of her own responsibility as a member of the white ruling class. However, these girls have varying levels of self awareness; some seem unaware of the implications of their stories, while others catch glimpses of their own complicity, yet are unable to act. Although Lessing herself is highly critical of colonialism, her stories sometimes risk textually replicating and thus reinforcing the values she criticizes. Dangarembga's first-person novel Nervous Conditions (1988) portrays Tambu, a girl from a poor African family, and her more modern cousin Nyasha. Tambu narrates the story as an adult, Although Nyasha resents colonialism and her patriarchal family, Tambu proceeds with her education, attempting to ignore the injustice around her. Because of the use of an adult narrator, the reader sees what Tambu the child cannot see. Nyasha is unable to voice her concerns; her protest surfaces as anorexia. Both Lessing's and Dangarembga's characters have difficulty speaking because colonialism does not include a space for what they want to say; even if they spoke, their words could make little difference. Lessing' s characters can "speak" only by leaving the country, as Lessing herself did. Dangarembga's Tambu may or may not have "escaped" her situation; by the book's publication, Rhodesia had overcome white rule, and it may be this political change that allows Tambu to tell her story. / Graduation date: 2002

Thesis (M.A.)--Ohio University, June, 2006. / Title from PDF t.p. Includes bibliographical references (p. 78-81)

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