Mok, Joyce Mee Luen. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 129-133). / Abstracts in English and Chinese. / Abstract (English) --- p.i / Abstract (Chinese) --- p.ii / Acknowledgements --- p.iii / Table of Contents --- p.iv / List of Tables --- p.x / Chapter Chapter 1 --- Introduction / Chapter 1.1 --- Background to this study --- p.1 / Chapter 1.2 --- Purpose of this study --- p.6 / Chapter 1.3 --- Organisation of this thesis --- p.7 / Chapter Chapter 2 --- Literature Review / Chapter 2.1 --- Introduction --- p.10 / Chapter 2.2 --- Cognitive Approaches to Task Performance / Chapter 2.2.1 --- The Information-Processing Theory --- p.11 / Chapter 2.2.2 --- Levelt's Model of Speech Production --- p.14 / Chapter 2.2.3 --- Cognitive Models of Task-Based Performance --- p.16 / Chapter 2.3 --- The Two Types of Task Planning - Pre-Task Planning and On-line Planning --- p.21 / Chapter 2.4 --- Manipulating Task Characteristics under Different Planning Conditions --- p.24 / Chapter 2.5 --- The Two Types of Narrative Prompts -- Picture Sequences and Video Snippets --- p.31 / Chapter 2.6 --- Learners' Perception of Task Performance --- p.35 / Chapter 2.7 --- Research Questions of This Study --- p.38 / Chapter Chapter 3 --- Method / Chapter 3.1 --- Introduction --- p.40 / Chapter 3.2 --- Participants --- p.40 / Chapter 3.3 --- Task Type --- p.43 / Chapter 3.4 --- Pilot Studies / Chapter 3.4.1 --- Pilot Study on Picture Prompts --- p.44 / Chapter 3.4.2 --- Pilot Study on Video Prompts --- p.46 / Chapter 3.5 --- Task Design --- p.47 / Chapter 3.6 --- Data Collection Procedures --- p.52 / Chapter 3.7 --- Pre-task / Post-task Questionnaires --- p.53 / Chapter 3.8 --- Quantitative Measures / Chapter 3.8.1 --- Fluency Measures --- p.55 / Chapter 3.8.2 --- Complexity Measures --- p.56 / Chapter 3.8.3 --- Accuracy Measures --- p.57 / Chapter 3.8.4 --- Data Analysis --- p.57 / Chapter 3.9 --- Qualitative Measures --- p.58 / Chapter Chapter 4 --- Results / Chapter 4.1 --- Introduction --- p.59 / Chapter 4.2 --- Descriptive Statistics / Chapter 4.2.1 --- Overall Means and Standard Deviations --- p.60 / Chapter 4.2.2 --- Means and Standard Deviations under Four Conditions --- p.63 / Chapter 4.3 --- Correlational Statistics / Chapter 4.3.1 --- Intercorrelations of Dependent Variables --- p.66 / Chapter 4.3.2 --- "Two-way ANOVAs for Fluency, Complexity and Accuracy" --- p.69 / Chapter 4.4 --- Summary of Data Elicited in Language Production --- p.72 / Chapter 4.5 --- Learners' Perception of Task Performance / Chapter 4.5.1 --- Learners' Perception of Task Difficulty and Task Enjoyment --- p.73 / Chapter 4.5.1.1 --- Descriptive Statistics: Learners' Perception of Task Difficulty and Task Enjoyment --- p.74 / Chapter 4.5.1.2 --- Correlational Statistics: Learners' Perception of Task Enjoyment --- p.75 / Chapter 4.5.2 --- Learners' Planning Strategies and Difficulties Encountered While Speaking --- p.77 / Chapter 4.5.3 --- The Benefits of Different Prompt Types --- p.84 / Chapter 4.6 --- Summary of Learners' Perception of Tasks --- p.86 / Chapter Chapter 5 --- Discussion / Chapter 5.1 --- Introduction --- p.88 / Chapter 5.2 --- Research Question One / Chapter 5.2.1 --- Summary of Results on Fluency --- p.88 / Chapter 5.2.2 --- Explanations for Results on Fluency --- p.91 / Chapter 5.3 --- Research Question Two / Chapter 5.3.1 --- Summary of Results on Complexity --- p.94 / Chapter 5.3.2 --- Explanations for Results on Complexity --- p.95 / Chapter 5.4 --- Research Question Three / Chapter 5.4.1 --- Summary of Results on Accuracy --- p.100 / Chapter 5.4.2 --- Explanations for Results on Accuracy --- p.104 / Chapter 5.5 --- Summary on the Language Production of Learners --- p.107 / Chapter 5.6 --- Research Question Four / Chapter 5.6.1 --- Summary of Results on Learners' Perception of Task Performance --- p.108 / Chapter 5.6.1.1 --- Learners' Perception of the Usefulness and Adequacy of Planning Time --- p.109 / Chapter 5.6.1.2 --- Learners' Perception of How to Spend Their Planning Time --- p.109 / Chapter 5.6.1.3 --- Learners' Perception of What Would Help Improve Their Task Performance --- p.109 / Chapter 5.6.1.4 --- Learners' Perception of the Benefits of Different Prompt Types --- p.111 / Chapter 5.7 --- Summary of Questionnaire Data --- p.113 / Chapter Chapter 6 --- Conclusion / Chapter 6.1 --- Introduction --- p.114 / Chapter 6.2 --- Integrating the Present Study with Previous Studies --- p.115 / Chapter 6.2.1 --- Previous Findings on Fluency --- p.116 / Chapter 6.2.2 --- Present Findings on Fluency --- p.117 / Chapter 6.2.3 --- Previous Findings on Complexity --- p.118 / Chapter 6.2.4 --- Present Findings on Complexity --- p.118 / Chapter 6.2.5 --- Previous Findings on Accuracy --- p.119 / Chapter 6.2.6 --- Present Findings on Accuracy --- p.119 / Chapter 6.3 --- The Trade-Off Effect / Chapter 6.3.1 --- Previous Findings on the Trade-Off Effect --- p.121 / Chapter 6.3.2 --- Present Findings on the Trade-Off Effect --- p.122 / Chapter 6.4 --- Limitations of the Present Study / Chapter 6.4.1 --- The Use of Different Prompt Types --- p.123 / Chapter 6.4.2 --- Interpretation of Learners' Perception of Tasks --- p.124 / Chapter 6.4.3 --- Pedagogical Studies vs. Language Testing Studies --- p.125 / Chapter 6.5 --- Implications for Language Pedagogy --- p.127 / References --- p.129 / Appendices / Appendix A Picture Sequence Extracted from Huizenga (2000) --- p.134 / Appendix B Instructions to the Participants (English Version) --- p.135 / Appendix C Language Background Questionnaire --- p.136 / Appendix D Task Difficulty Questionnaire --- p.139 / Appendix E Consent Form --- p.142

Proficiency in various higher level language skills is necessary to integrate and organize units of meaning beyond the sentence level. Examining narratives has become a useful tool for assessing these language abilities. Narrative skills are considered by many researchers to be a strong link between oral language and literacy, and related to academic performance (Westby, 1991; Roth & Spekman, 1991). The present study was part of the Portland Language Development Project, a longitudinal study of early language delay. The purpose of this study was to assess higher level language abilities by examining the stories of 6-year-olds with normal, impaired, and late developing oral language. The specific objective was to determine whether there were differences on 9 measures of narrative skill in first graders that could be related to their pattern of language acquisition. The original group size was 24 children with normal expressive vocabulary size at age 20-34 months, and 30 children whose expressive vocabulary size fell below the normal range at 20-34 months referred to as "late talkers." These two groups of children were re-evaluated when in first grade. Each child was audiotaped producing a narrative and a spontaneous language sample. The Bus Story (Renfrew, 1977), a story retelling procedure, was administered for the narrative measure. When the spontaneous, conversational language samples were scored for syntactic complexity with Lee's (1974) Developmental Sentence Score (DSS), 22 (73°/o) of the original L T had scores in the normal range and were reclassified as "History of Expressive Language Delay" (Hx). The remaining 8 (27°/o) who continued to fall below the normal range were now classified as "Expressive Language Delayed" (ELD). The narrations produced by all of the children were scored on nine measures: narration length in T-units, mean length perT-unit in morphemes, type-token ratio, average number of morphemes in the five longest sentences, information retold, lexical richness, cohesion, percentage of new propositions produced, and narrative stage assignment. No significant differences were found among the three diagnostic groups on the following seven measures: narration length in T-units, mean length perT-unit in morphemes, type-token ration, information retold, lexical richness, cohesion, or percentage of new propositions produced. Significant differences were found among groups on the average number of morphemes in the five longest sentences. Both the normal group and the Hx group scored significantly higher than the ELD group. Significant differences were found between the normal group and both the Hx group and the ELD group on the measure of narrative stage assignment. The present study suggested that children with early language delay appear to "catch up" with normal peers in most areas of narrative ability by age 6. Of the variables examined in this study, the production of an overall mature narrative was the primary deficit noted in children with a history of expressive language delay. Language intervention should focus not only on morphology and syntax, but also on basic story grammar knowledge. Children with an expressive language delay as well as children with a history of language delay may need additional teaching and training of narrative skills in order to succeed with literacy.

The narrative, just like any lectured or monologue information which is shared, does not depend to any great extent on context. Therefore, ability to encode and decode the information to be presented verbally is required, that is, in order for the speaker to be able to verbalize what he or she wants to say while taking into consideration the listener's needs. This indicates that production of strong narratives depends on higher level language skills, and so children's narratives provide a sensitive means of assessing children's language development. The purpose of this study was to compare the narrative ability of children at second grade age, using a wordless picture book, with differing rates of language development. Subjects were assigned to three diagnostic groups, (normal, history of expressive language delay, and chronic expressive language delay) based on their original diagnoses at 20 - 34 months (normal or late-talker) and their Developmental Sentence Score (Lee, 1974) at second grade age. During the second grade assessment, each subject was audiotaped producing a spontaneous narrative using a wordless picture book. These narratives were scored on eight measures: Mean Length of Utterance per T-Unit, TypeToken Ratio, Narration Length in T-Units, Information, Average Sentence Length, Lexical Diversity, Cohesion, and Narrative Stage. Results of the ANOVA and the Duncan Test multiple comparison procedures revealed significant differences among the groups on only one variable - Mean Length of Utterance per T-Unit. Children in the normal language group and the history of expressive language delay group performed significantly better than the group of children with chronic expressive language delay. No significant differences were found between the normal language group and the history of expressive language delay subjects.

In Australia, family storytelling and religion, the traditional sources of shared stories, are in decline. Stories are increasingly sourced from books, television, film and the internet. But the research suggests that whilst the sources of stories have changed over time, from family and bible stories to books, radio, television and film, the role of those stories has been constant. It has been argued that there is an important connection between an individual?s perception of their own place in the world, their understanding of what constitutes a good life and how to live it, and their ability to empathise with the lives and problems of others (MacIntyre, 1981; Taylor, 1989; Aristotle, 1996; Kearney, 2002). The research indicates that this core bundle of values, attitudes and beliefs is commonly derived from the stories to which individuals are exposed from an early age. Access to stories with which the individual can personally identify and which are familiar to and shared with those around them is crucial in establishing a satisfactory self-narrative (Polkinghorne, 1988), and to the individual's ability to communicate it successfully through the process of triple mimesis (Ricoeur, 1991/1980). Of crucial importance is access to sharable stories which resemble significant aspects of the recipient's own life and circumstances. Respondents who had endured personal difficulties were more likely to accept their circumstances and live successful lives when they had been able to identify with a story describing a similar problem and its credible resolution. However, individuals who had been unable to identify with a public story and establish a satisfactory self-narrative were more likely to be socially dysfunctional. The research also indicates a correlation between exposure to word-based stories at an early age, and the later development of imagination and ambition. People who only experienced visual stories in their early years appeared less articulate, less able to imagine things beyond their own experience, and were less ambitious in their career aspirations. Australia is an increasingly diverse nation, with a wide and growing variety of cultures, beliefs and circumstances represented in the population. It is argued that to maintain the social health of such a diverse community Australia requires an equally wide variety of public stories to ensure that all sections of the community can find a suitable reflection of their lives and circumstances. / thesis (PhDBusinessandManagement)--University of South Australia, 2005.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the rhetorical strategies used by Reverend Jesse L. Jackson from the 1970's to the 1990's. Specifically, this study examines Jackson's use of narrative to empower himself, his constituency, and his political ideologies without possessing a traditional political platform. Jackson raised political and social consciousness regarding the positions he held by telling persuasive, strategically constructed narratives. By examining Jackson's narrated approach to politics, arguments can be constructed to demonstrate how Jackson rhetorically operates from an unorthodox platform in the political arena. A functionalist view of narrative, as defined by Lucaites and Condit (1985), is applied to Jackson's 1984, 1988, and 1992 Democratic National Convention addresses in order to account for "tangible" objectives being carried out by the narrative discourse form. In doing so, the study argues that Jackson's narratives initially functioned: to empower Jackson and the Rainbow Coalition; to bolster public approval ratings of Jackson from 30% to 54%; and later to promote Statehood for Washington D.C. / Graduation date: 1994

Univ., Diss.--Siegen, 2006.

Texte remanié de : Dissertation : Littérature : Universität Bonn : 1988. / Texte en allemand, contient des extraits en français. Bibliogr. p. 213-224. Notes bibliogr.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2003. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 135-141). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2003. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 135-141). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Hong Kong, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references.