As questões relacionadas à prática da eutanásia, que têm sido apresentadas, em nossa sociedade, especialmente através da mídia, levaram-me à realização deste estudo. A partir de aproximações com leituras do campo dos Estudos Culturais, nas suas versões pós-estruturalistas, dos Estudos da Ciência e de estudos de Michel Foucault, passei a interrogar como a rede de enunciados relacionados à vida, à morte e à eutanásia aparecem na mídia impressa. Neste estudo, estou entendendo o corpo como produção de práticas sociais; a materialidade biológica, ao ser inscrita por discursos e práticas de diferentes instâncias culturais que se articulam ou se confrontam, configura-se naquilo que nomeamos de corpo; o morrer não apenas como um fato biológico, mas também como um processo construído socialmente cujas transformações alteram comportamentos e sentimentos; e a medicina como um saber/poder que, principalmente a partir do século XIX, numa política dirigida à vida, vai incidir sobre o corpo e os fenômenos biológicos, controlando e regulamentando o indivíduo e sua vida/morte.Hoje, a mídia tem ocupado destacado lugar na veiculação e instituição de determinadas verdades, funcionando como uma importante estratégia de regulação do corpo e da vida. Nesse sentido, os enunciados que nos interpelam cotidianamente, ao serem incorporados, configuram determinados modos de pensar e agir. No estudo, analisei edições dos jornais Zero Hora (ZH), de Porto Alegre/RS, e Folha de São Paulo, de São Paulo, e da revista Veja, publicadas ao longo do ano de 2005 e 2006, que tratavam de casos relacionados à eutanásia. A partir das discussões e dos relatos apresentados pelas reportagens, percebi a ocorrência de movimentos voltados a debater e a repensar as formas como se tem exercido o poder sobre a vida das pessoas, como, por exemplo, as mobilizações da sociedade em manifestações públicas de apoio ou protesto às decisões sobre a vida/morte de pacientes com doenças terminais ou sem chance de cura, assim como a existência de embates entre médicos e advogados nabusca pela legitimação da prática médica em suspender ou limitar procedimentos e tratamentos que prolonguem ou mantenham a “vida” dos pacientes. Compreendi que, os avanços da tecnociência e da ampliação do poder de intervenção médica no “curso” da vida/morte têm atuado como estratégias para salvar e manter a vida, sem que se questionem as condições do paciente e da vida que está sendo mantida. Por fim, percebi o caráter e a força política dessas discussões e manifestações, mobilizando órgãos como o Conselho Federal de Medicina a aprovar uma Resolução favorável aos limites do saber e do poder sobre a vida, além de contribuir para a aceitação da ortotanásia na sociedade e trazer discussões sobre os alicerces em que as leis, normas e códigos brasileiros se amparam.Minha proposta foi possibilitar um outro espaço de pensar e problematizar determinadas práticas diante da possibilidade de liberdade de decisão e ação das pessoas em situações de morte e chamar a atenção para a posição hegemônica dos discursos – religioso, jurídico, médico – no gerenciamento da vida/morte. / Issues related to euthanasia practice that have been shown in our society, especially through media, motivated this study. From approximations to the Cultural Studies in its post-structuralist versions, Science Studies, and works of Michel Foucault, I have questioned how utterances related to life, death, and euthanasia have been shown in media. In this study, body is understood as a production of social practices; the biological materiality, on being inscribed by discourses and practices from different cultural instances that are articulated or confronted, conforms what we have named as body; dying is seen not only as a biological fact, but also as a process that is socially constructed, whose transformations alter behaviors and feelings; and medicine is taken as a knowledge/power that, particularly from the nineteenth century, in a policy directed towards life, has acted on the body and the biological phenomena, controlling and regulating the individual and his/her life/death. Presently, media has had a marked role in spreading and instituting certain truths, functioning as an important strategy to regulate body and life. In this sense, utterances that have stricken us daily, when they are embodied, conform certain ways of thinking and acting. In this study, I have analyzed issues of two newspapers (Zero Hora, from Porto Alegre/RS, and Folha de São Paulo, from São Paulo), and a magazine (Veja), published over the years 2005 and 2006, presenting cases related to euthanasia. From the discussions and reports considered, I have noticed the occurrence of movements to both debate and rethink the ways power has been exerted on peoples’ lives. For instance, mobilizations of society in public manifestations to either support or protest against decisions about life/death of terminal patients with no chances to be cured, as well as the existence of disputes between physicians and lawyers in search of legitimization of the medical practice to suspend or limit procedures and treatments that prolong or maintain patients’ “lives”. I have understood that, despite the great developments in techno-science and the amplification of power of medical intervention, more comprehensive reflections to show impacts of these new treatments and their possibleconsequences have not been made. Such interventions in the “course” of life/death have acted as strategies to save and maintain life, in a logic ruled by life, without questioning the conditions of either the patient or the life that is maintained. Finally, I have perceived the political character and strength of those discussions and manifests, mobilizing institutions, such as the Federal Medical Board, to approve a Resolution that favors the limits of knowledge and power over life, besides contributing towards the acceptance of orthothanasia in society and bringing about discussions on the foundations on which Brazilian laws, norms and codes are grounded. My proposal has been to provide another space to think and problematize certain practices, in relation to the possibility of freedom to decide and act of people facing death situations, as well as to draw attention to the hegemonic position of – religious, juridical, and medical – discourses in life/death management.

This thesis sets out to do mainly two things. On the one hand, I wish to provide an overview of scholarship on natural metalanguage. On the other, I want to tackle some of the most interesting problems that emerge from the recent literature on the subject. As far as my first goal is concerned, I discuss the origin of the term and the notion of 'metalanguage' in logic (Ch 1); I review and criticise the various theories of mention or quotation (Ch 2, 4, 5) because these are the main theoretical upshot, in the area of the study of natural languages, of the logicians' discussions of metalanguage. As for the second goal, I discuss the problems linked to the reference of quotational sequences (Ch 4); I devise a typology of metalinguistic utterances (Ch 6), based on a conception of semantics and pragmatics that is set out in Ch 3; I examine where a natural metalanguage "fits" with respect to the rest of the language and review a number of concerns regarding, notably, the infiniteness of the lexicon (Ch 7); I explore some of the issues raised by complex cases of alleged simultaneous use and mention (Ch 8).

As questões relacionadas à prática da eutanásia, que têm sido apresentadas, em nossa sociedade, especialmente através da mídia, levaram-me à realização deste estudo. A partir de aproximações com leituras do campo dos Estudos Culturais, nas suas versões pós-estruturalistas, dos Estudos da Ciência e de estudos de Michel Foucault, passei a interrogar como a rede de enunciados relacionados à vida, à morte e à eutanásia aparecem na mídia impressa. Neste estudo, estou entendendo o corpo como produção de práticas sociais; a materialidade biológica, ao ser inscrita por discursos e práticas de diferentes instâncias culturais que se articulam ou se confrontam, configura-se naquilo que nomeamos de corpo; o morrer não apenas como um fato biológico, mas também como um processo construído socialmente cujas transformações alteram comportamentos e sentimentos; e a medicina como um saber/poder que, principalmente a partir do século XIX, numa política dirigida à vida, vai incidir sobre o corpo e os fenômenos biológicos, controlando e regulamentando o indivíduo e sua vida/morte.Hoje, a mídia tem ocupado destacado lugar na veiculação e instituição de determinadas verdades, funcionando como uma importante estratégia de regulação do corpo e da vida. Nesse sentido, os enunciados que nos interpelam cotidianamente, ao serem incorporados, configuram determinados modos de pensar e agir. No estudo, analisei edições dos jornais Zero Hora (ZH), de Porto Alegre/RS, e Folha de São Paulo, de São Paulo, e da revista Veja, publicadas ao longo do ano de 2005 e 2006, que tratavam de casos relacionados à eutanásia. A partir das discussões e dos relatos apresentados pelas reportagens, percebi a ocorrência de movimentos voltados a debater e a repensar as formas como se tem exercido o poder sobre a vida das pessoas, como, por exemplo, as mobilizações da sociedade em manifestações públicas de apoio ou protesto às decisões sobre a vida/morte de pacientes com doenças terminais ou sem chance de cura, assim como a existência de embates entre médicos e advogados nabusca pela legitimação da prática médica em suspender ou limitar procedimentos e tratamentos que prolonguem ou mantenham a “vida” dos pacientes. Compreendi que, os avanços da tecnociência e da ampliação do poder de intervenção médica no “curso” da vida/morte têm atuado como estratégias para salvar e manter a vida, sem que se questionem as condições do paciente e da vida que está sendo mantida. Por fim, percebi o caráter e a força política dessas discussões e manifestações, mobilizando órgãos como o Conselho Federal de Medicina a aprovar uma Resolução favorável aos limites do saber e do poder sobre a vida, além de contribuir para a aceitação da ortotanásia na sociedade e trazer discussões sobre os alicerces em que as leis, normas e códigos brasileiros se amparam.Minha proposta foi possibilitar um outro espaço de pensar e problematizar determinadas práticas diante da possibilidade de liberdade de decisão e ação das pessoas em situações de morte e chamar a atenção para a posição hegemônica dos discursos – religioso, jurídico, médico – no gerenciamento da vida/morte. / Issues related to euthanasia practice that have been shown in our society, especially through media, motivated this study. From approximations to the Cultural Studies in its post-structuralist versions, Science Studies, and works of Michel Foucault, I have questioned how utterances related to life, death, and euthanasia have been shown in media. In this study, body is understood as a production of social practices; the biological materiality, on being inscribed by discourses and practices from different cultural instances that are articulated or confronted, conforms what we have named as body; dying is seen not only as a biological fact, but also as a process that is socially constructed, whose transformations alter behaviors and feelings; and medicine is taken as a knowledge/power that, particularly from the nineteenth century, in a policy directed towards life, has acted on the body and the biological phenomena, controlling and regulating the individual and his/her life/death. Presently, media has had a marked role in spreading and instituting certain truths, functioning as an important strategy to regulate body and life. In this sense, utterances that have stricken us daily, when they are embodied, conform certain ways of thinking and acting. In this study, I have analyzed issues of two newspapers (Zero Hora, from Porto Alegre/RS, and Folha de São Paulo, from São Paulo), and a magazine (Veja), published over the years 2005 and 2006, presenting cases related to euthanasia. From the discussions and reports considered, I have noticed the occurrence of movements to both debate and rethink the ways power has been exerted on peoples’ lives. For instance, mobilizations of society in public manifestations to either support or protest against decisions about life/death of terminal patients with no chances to be cured, as well as the existence of disputes between physicians and lawyers in search of legitimization of the medical practice to suspend or limit procedures and treatments that prolong or maintain patients’ “lives”. I have understood that, despite the great developments in techno-science and the amplification of power of medical intervention, more comprehensive reflections to show impacts of these new treatments and their possibleconsequences have not been made. Such interventions in the “course” of life/death have acted as strategies to save and maintain life, in a logic ruled by life, without questioning the conditions of either the patient or the life that is maintained. Finally, I have perceived the political character and strength of those discussions and manifests, mobilizing institutions, such as the Federal Medical Board, to approve a Resolution that favors the limits of knowledge and power over life, besides contributing towards the acceptance of orthothanasia in society and bringing about discussions on the foundations on which Brazilian laws, norms and codes are grounded. My proposal has been to provide another space to think and problematize certain practices, in relation to the possibility of freedom to decide and act of people facing death situations, as well as to draw attention to the hegemonic position of – religious, juridical, and medical – discourses in life/death management.

As questões relacionadas à prática da eutanásia, que têm sido apresentadas, em nossa sociedade, especialmente através da mídia, levaram-me à realização deste estudo. A partir de aproximações com leituras do campo dos Estudos Culturais, nas suas versões pós-estruturalistas, dos Estudos da Ciência e de estudos de Michel Foucault, passei a interrogar como a rede de enunciados relacionados à vida, à morte e à eutanásia aparecem na mídia impressa. Neste estudo, estou entendendo o corpo como produção de práticas sociais; a materialidade biológica, ao ser inscrita por discursos e práticas de diferentes instâncias culturais que se articulam ou se confrontam, configura-se naquilo que nomeamos de corpo; o morrer não apenas como um fato biológico, mas também como um processo construído socialmente cujas transformações alteram comportamentos e sentimentos; e a medicina como um saber/poder que, principalmente a partir do século XIX, numa política dirigida à vida, vai incidir sobre o corpo e os fenômenos biológicos, controlando e regulamentando o indivíduo e sua vida/morte.Hoje, a mídia tem ocupado destacado lugar na veiculação e instituição de determinadas verdades, funcionando como uma importante estratégia de regulação do corpo e da vida. Nesse sentido, os enunciados que nos interpelam cotidianamente, ao serem incorporados, configuram determinados modos de pensar e agir. No estudo, analisei edições dos jornais Zero Hora (ZH), de Porto Alegre/RS, e Folha de São Paulo, de São Paulo, e da revista Veja, publicadas ao longo do ano de 2005 e 2006, que tratavam de casos relacionados à eutanásia. A partir das discussões e dos relatos apresentados pelas reportagens, percebi a ocorrência de movimentos voltados a debater e a repensar as formas como se tem exercido o poder sobre a vida das pessoas, como, por exemplo, as mobilizações da sociedade em manifestações públicas de apoio ou protesto às decisões sobre a vida/morte de pacientes com doenças terminais ou sem chance de cura, assim como a existência de embates entre médicos e advogados nabusca pela legitimação da prática médica em suspender ou limitar procedimentos e tratamentos que prolonguem ou mantenham a “vida” dos pacientes. Compreendi que, os avanços da tecnociência e da ampliação do poder de intervenção médica no “curso” da vida/morte têm atuado como estratégias para salvar e manter a vida, sem que se questionem as condições do paciente e da vida que está sendo mantida. Por fim, percebi o caráter e a força política dessas discussões e manifestações, mobilizando órgãos como o Conselho Federal de Medicina a aprovar uma Resolução favorável aos limites do saber e do poder sobre a vida, além de contribuir para a aceitação da ortotanásia na sociedade e trazer discussões sobre os alicerces em que as leis, normas e códigos brasileiros se amparam.Minha proposta foi possibilitar um outro espaço de pensar e problematizar determinadas práticas diante da possibilidade de liberdade de decisão e ação das pessoas em situações de morte e chamar a atenção para a posição hegemônica dos discursos – religioso, jurídico, médico – no gerenciamento da vida/morte. / Issues related to euthanasia practice that have been shown in our society, especially through media, motivated this study. From approximations to the Cultural Studies in its post-structuralist versions, Science Studies, and works of Michel Foucault, I have questioned how utterances related to life, death, and euthanasia have been shown in media. In this study, body is understood as a production of social practices; the biological materiality, on being inscribed by discourses and practices from different cultural instances that are articulated or confronted, conforms what we have named as body; dying is seen not only as a biological fact, but also as a process that is socially constructed, whose transformations alter behaviors and feelings; and medicine is taken as a knowledge/power that, particularly from the nineteenth century, in a policy directed towards life, has acted on the body and the biological phenomena, controlling and regulating the individual and his/her life/death. Presently, media has had a marked role in spreading and instituting certain truths, functioning as an important strategy to regulate body and life. In this sense, utterances that have stricken us daily, when they are embodied, conform certain ways of thinking and acting. In this study, I have analyzed issues of two newspapers (Zero Hora, from Porto Alegre/RS, and Folha de São Paulo, from São Paulo), and a magazine (Veja), published over the years 2005 and 2006, presenting cases related to euthanasia. From the discussions and reports considered, I have noticed the occurrence of movements to both debate and rethink the ways power has been exerted on peoples’ lives. For instance, mobilizations of society in public manifestations to either support or protest against decisions about life/death of terminal patients with no chances to be cured, as well as the existence of disputes between physicians and lawyers in search of legitimization of the medical practice to suspend or limit procedures and treatments that prolong or maintain patients’ “lives”. I have understood that, despite the great developments in techno-science and the amplification of power of medical intervention, more comprehensive reflections to show impacts of these new treatments and their possibleconsequences have not been made. Such interventions in the “course” of life/death have acted as strategies to save and maintain life, in a logic ruled by life, without questioning the conditions of either the patient or the life that is maintained. Finally, I have perceived the political character and strength of those discussions and manifests, mobilizing institutions, such as the Federal Medical Board, to approve a Resolution that favors the limits of knowledge and power over life, besides contributing towards the acceptance of orthothanasia in society and bringing about discussions on the foundations on which Brazilian laws, norms and codes are grounded. My proposal has been to provide another space to think and problematize certain practices, in relation to the possibility of freedom to decide and act of people facing death situations, as well as to draw attention to the hegemonic position of – religious, juridical, and medical – discourses in life/death management.

Le contenu de ce travail de recherche est une analyse comparative des interactions en classe d’espagnol langue étrangère (quatrième et terminale). Il est essentiellement axé sur les productions verbales enseignants/apprenants des classes de quatrième et de terminale, dans des établissements situés à Libreville, capitale du Gabon. Cette analyse prétend répondre à un questionnement sur le déroulement d’une classe de langue espagnole. Applique-t-il les règles préconisées par les institutions gabonaises ? Ce déroulement est-il le même selon les niveaux d’apprentissage des élèves (quatrième-terminale) ? Quels types d’activités sont pratiqués en classe ? Ces types d’activités favorisent-ils l’interaction comme moyen d’échanges et de communication ? Comment coexistent gestion d’interaction, de classe et du cours ? Quel est rôle de chaque interactant (enseignants/apprenants) pour une interaction pluridirectionnelle ? Quelles sont les adoptées stratégies dans la construction des énoncés pour faciliter compréhension des élèves ? Dans une démarche quelque peu sociolinguistique mais fortement didactique, ce travail s’inscrit dans l’enseignement des langues étrangères avec une approche interactionniste. Elle oriente de façon générale la formation des enseignants dans la gestion de la classe. En effet, en Europe comme en Afrique, il se pose, de façon permanente, ce problème de gestion des classes et des effectifs en classe de langue étrangère. Nos résultats montrent que l’enseignant emploie régulièrement les phénomènes langagiers tels que : la reformulation, la répétition et l’allongement syllabique, comme stratégies énonciatifs, afin de solliciter l’attention et la participation des élèves. Il arrive ainsi à assurer la gestion de la classe, des séquences du cours, du matériel et des élèves aussi bien en classe de quatrième qu’en classe de terminale. / A comparative analysis of interactions in Spanish classes at high school level (8th and 12th grade is the basis of this research. Indeed, it provides an insight into the interactions between teachers and students in Libreville-based high schools. So the on-ground research was done in Libreville, Gabon's capital city. This analysis is an attempt at answering questions on the teaching of Spanish as a second language. Does this teaching comply with the rules worked out by the Gabonese Ministry of Education? Is it similar for all grades? What are the various activities during Spanish classes? Do these activities foster interactions as a means of communication and exchange? How does the teacher handle interactions, students' behaviour and the class? How do the teacher and the student contribute to an intense interaction during the class? How do educators do to render their Spanish classes comprehensible for their pupils? By adopting both a sociolinguistic and above all didactic method this work is focused on the teaching of foreign languages. Its objective is to help educators better understand the mechanisms to handle a grade. Handling a grade is more and more complex both in western countries and developing ones due to the ever-growing number of students in language classes. Our findings show that the teacher steadily employs a wide range of teaching strategies like rephrasing, repetition and the prolonged pronunciation of syllables to get students' attention and participation. Thanks to this panoply of teaching techniques, the teacher succeeds in handling the class and students at 8th and 12th grade level.

Detta arbete består av två delar. Den första delen syftar till att beskriva och analysera callcenterbranschen i Sverige samt vilka faktorer som påverkar branschen och dess utveckling. Analysen grundar sig i två modeller: Porters fempunktsmodell och PEST. Fokus ligger på den del av branschen som består av kundtjänstverksamhet för att koppla till arbetets andra del. Analysen visar att branschen främst påverkas av hög konkurrens och företagens, som behöver tillhandahålla kundtjänst, val mellan interna eller externa kundtjänstlösningar. Analysen indikerar även att branschen kommer fortsätta växa och att det finns en trend att företag i större utsträckning väljer att outsourca sin kundtjänst. Utvecklingen hos de tekniska lösningar som används i callcenter, till exempel dialogsystem, är efterfrågade av företagen då dessa är viktiga verktyg för att skapa en väl fungerande kundtjänst. Dagens digitala system har uppenbara utvecklingsområden. Det är ofta stora internationella företag eller internationella arbetslag som utvecklar de digitala systemen. Dock sträcker sig användningsområdet för dessa system långt utanför endast callcenterbranschen. Den andra delen handlar om att identifiera problematiska dialogsystemyttranden med hjälp av maskininlärning och inspireras av SpeDial, ett EU-projekt med syfte att förbättra dialogsystem. Yttranden från dialogsystemet kan anses problematiska beroende på till exempel att systemet missuppfattat användarens avsikt. Syftet med arbetets andra del är att undersöka vilken eller vilka maskininlärningsmetoder i verktyget WEKA som lämpar sig bäst för att identifiera problematiska dialogsystemyttranden. De data som använts i arbetet kommer från en kundtjänstentré baserad på fritt tal, vilket innebär att användaren själv uppmanas beskriva sitt ärende för att kunna kopplas vidare till rätt avdelning inom kundtjänsten. Våra data har tillhandahållits av företaget Voice Provider som utvecklar, implementerar och underhåller kundtjänstsystem. Voice Provider kom vi i kontakt med via Institutionen för tal, musik och hörsel (TMH), vid Kungliga Tekniska högskolan, som deltar i SpeDial-projektet. Arbetet gick initialt ut på att förbereda tillhandahållen data för att kunna användas av maskininlärningsverktyget WEKAs inbyggda klassificerare, varefter sex klassificerare valdes ut för vidare utvärdering. Resultaten visar att ingen av klassificerarna lyckades utföra uppgiften på ett fullt ut tillfredsställande sätt. Den som lyckades bäst var dock metoden Random Forest. Det är svårt att dra några ytterligare slutsatser från resultaten. / This work consists of two parts. The first part aims to describe and analyze the call center industry in Sweden and the factors that affect the industry and its development. The analysis is based on two models: Porter’s five forces and PEST. The focus is mainly on the part of the industry that consists of customer service operations. The analysis shows that the industry is mainly affected by high competition and businesses’, that need to provide customer service, choice between internal or external customer service operations. The analysis also indicates that the industry will continue to grow and that there is a trend that companies increasingly choose to outsource their customer service. The development of  the technological solutions used in call centers, for example, dialogue systems, are requested by companies as these are important tools to create a well-functioning customer service. Digital systems today have obvious development areas. It is often large international companies or international teams that develop the digital systems used. However, extends the area of ​​use for these systems far beyond the call center industry. The second part involves identifying problematic dialogue system utterances using machine learning and is inspired by SpeDial, an EU project aimed at improving dialogue systems. Problematic dialogue system utterances can be considered problematic depending on, for example, that the system misinterprets the user's intention. The aim of the work done in the second part is to investigate what or which machine learning methods in the WEKA tool that are best suited to identify problematic dialogue system utterances. The data used in this work comes from a customer service entrance based on free speech, which means that the user is asked to describe their case to be transferred to the right department within the customer service. Our data has been provided by the company Voice Provider that develops, implements and maintains customer service systems. We came in contact with Voice Provider through the Department of Speech, Music and Hearing (TMH), at the Royal Institute of Technology, that are involved in the SpeDial project. The work initially consisted of preparing the supplied data to enable it to me used by the machine learning tool WEKA’s built-in classifiers, after which six classifiers were selected for further evaluation. The results show that none of the classifiers managed to accomplish the task in a fully satisfactory manner.  Whoever the method that was most successful was the Random Forest method. It is difficult to draw any further conclusions from the results.

Магистерская диссертация посвящена изучению гармонизации речевого общения. При возникновении сложностей в речевом общении, когда взаимодействие адресата и адресанта переходит в зону конфликтной коммуникации, функцию гармонизации речи нередко выполняет метаязыковая рефлексия. Цель диссертации – выявление метаязыковых операторов, гармонизирующих общение, указывающих на единицы, которые способствуют либо смягчению, либо огрублению информации. / Master thesis is devoted to the study of harmonization of verbal communication. If you experience difficulties in speech communication, when the interaction of the addressee and the addresser transferred to the zone of conflict communication, the function of harmonization of speech often performs metalinguistic reflection. The purpose of the thesis is to identify metalinguistic statements that harmonize the communication and indicate units, which contribute to either mitigation, or hard information.

De nombreux chercheurs se sont intéressés aux particularités lexicales et pragmatico-discursives du langage que les parents adressent à leur jeune enfant. La revue de la littérature sur ce point montre qu’il existe tantôt des différences tantôt des ressemblances entre les mères et les pères. Cependant, les caractéristiques syntaxiques du langage qu’adressent les parents à leur enfant font rarement l’objet d’études. Par ailleurs, les études portant sur les effets du dialogue, des genres de discours déployés durant celui-ci et des activités dans lesquelles interagissent les dyades parent-enfant sur le développement syntaxique de l’enfant sont encore peu développées.Cette thèse s’articule ainsi autour de trois objectifs : i) mieux cerner les différences et les similitudes qui existent dans le langage maternel et paternel aux niveaux syntaxique et pragmatico-discursif, et d’en observer l’influence sur le langage de l’enfant, ii) évaluer l’effet de l’activité en cours sur les productions et les conduites de dyades mère-enfant et père-enfant, iii) interroger les liens qui existent entre dimension syntaxique et dimension pragmatico-discursive dans le processus d’acquisition du langage.Sept enfants francophones natifs, âgés de 3 à 4 ans, et leurs parents ont été observés dans deux activités : un jeu symbolique et un jeu de cartes illustrées. Leurs productions ont été analysées au niveau syntaxique, tout en considérant certaines propriétés discursives et pragmatiques liées aux usages de ces productions (statut de l’interlocuteur de l’enfant, types d’activité et aspects pragmatico-discursifs). Nos résultats suggèrent que le statut de l’interlocuteur de l’enfant, associé aux types d’activités et aux spécificités du dialogue, constituent un faisceau de variables qu’il convient de considérer si l’on veut mieux décrire les usages syntaxiques des enfants et la variabilité de ceux-ci. / Many researchers have studied lexical and pragmatic-discursive particularities of the language that parents use to address their young child. A literature review shows that there are both differences and similarities between mothers and fathers. However, characteristics of the language that parents use for addressing their child have rarely been studied. Moreover, there is a paucity of studies examining the effects on the child’s syntactic development of dialogue, speech genres and activities during which parent-child dyads interact.This thesis has three goals: i) improve understanding of differences and similarities in the syntactic and pragmatic-discursive aspects of maternal and paternal language and their effect on the child’s language, ii) evaluate the effect of the ongoing activity on the production and the use of mother-child and father-child dyads, iii) investigate the relation between syntactic and pragmatic-discursive dimensions during the language learning process.Seven 3-4 years old native French-speaking children and their parents were observed during two activities: a symbolic play and a picture card game. The syntactic dimensions of their productions were analyzed while considering certain discursive and pragmatic properties related to the use of these productions (status of the child’s interlocutor, type of activity and pragmatic-discursive aspects). Our results suggest that the status of the child’s interlocutor, associated with the type of activity and the dialogue’s specificities, form a body of variables that should be taken into account in order to better describe children’s syntactic uses and their variability.

Children’s utterances have been studied in different languages; however, only a few studies refer to Swedish. The aim of the present study is to describe utterance types, subordinate clauses and utterance length for a group of three and four year old Swedish children without known functional impairments. The study included 29 children, 17 girls and 12 boys, in a larger city in the south-east of Sweden. The children, all native Swedish speakers, were aged 3;0 to 4;11. Sound recordings were made during a playing session with one of the authors in the children’s day care centers.The utterances were divided into the categories elliptical responses, incomplete and partly unintelligible utterances, imitative utterances and independent utterances. Mean Length of Utterance (MLU) was calculated for the 50 first independent utterances. Subordinate clauses were classified and counted and placement of the sentence adverb was studied. Elliptical responses were frequently used. Incomplete or partly unintelligible utterances were relatively common, but imitative utterances were rare. Subordinate clauses were used by 23 of the 29 children. Relative subordinate clauses were the most common type, and were used across the age range. Most of the children placed the sentence adverbial correctly. The children had utterances ranging from one to 23 words, and the most common utterance length was four words. The MLU ranged from 2.36 to 7.04. Frequent use of subordinate clauses resulted in a higher MLU. The older children used subordinate clauses more frequently and had a lower percentage of elliptical responses. The MLU had a tendency to increase with age. The great variety in the results shown in the present study, can be explained by the fact that children aged three and four are in a process of developing their language. Children with a more frequent use of subordinate clauses had higher MLU values, suggesting a relation between language complexity and MLU. The results show that MLU is a reliable measure of children’s language level in the ages three and four years. / Barns yttranden har undersökts i flera studier på olika språk, men det finns endast ett fåtal studier som berör det svenska språket. Syftet med föreliggande studie är att beskriva yttrandetyper, bisatser och yttrandelängd hos en grupp tre- och fyraåriga svenska barn utan kända funktionsnedsättningar. I studien deltog 29 barn, 17 flickor och 12 pojkar, i en större tätort i sydöstra Sverige. Barnen var i åldern 3;0 till 4;11 och hade svenska som modersmål. Ljudupptagning skedde under samtal i en leksituation med en av uppsatsförfattarna på barnens förskola. Yttrandena delades in i kategorierna elliptiska svarsyttranden, ofullständiga eller delvis oförståeliga yttranden, imitativa yttranden och självständiga yttranden. Yttrandemedellängd (eng: Mean Length of Utterance, förkortat MLU) räknades ut för de 50 första självständiga yttrandena. Förekomst av olika bisatstyper och placering av satsadverbial i bisatser undersöktes också. Elliptiska svarsyttranden var vanliga hos barnen. Ofullständiga eller delvis oförståeliga yttranden förekom i viss utsträckning, och imitativa yttranden var ovanliga. Bisatser förekom hos 23 av de 29 barnen. ”Som” var den vanligaste bisatsinledaren och förekom i hela åldersgruppen. De flesta barnen placerade satsadverbialet korrekt i bisatserna. Barnens yttranden var mellan ett och 23 ord långa, och den vanligaste yttrandelängden var fyra ord. MLU varierade från 2,36 till 7,04. Frekvent användning av bisatser gav högre MLU. De äldre barnen använde fler bisatser och hade en mindre andel elliptiska svarsyttranden. MLU hade en viss tendens att öka med ålder. Barn i åldern tre till fyra år befinner sig i en språklig utvecklingsfas, vilket speglas i den stora variationen i resultaten. Att barn som använde många bisatser hade högt MLU tyder på ett samband mellan språklig förmåga och yttrandelängd. Detta visar i sin tur att MLU är ett tillförlitligt mått på barns språkliga nivå i åldern tre till fyra år.

Text has abstracts in English and Tshivenḓa / The purpose of this study was to investigate how language used in the past was lost with regard to pregnant women, as well as the rituals meant to be followed when a woman is pregnant until child-birth. This study compared the language use of modern times and of the past with regard to taboos during pregnancy and birth. The components that the researcher investigated embrace how a pregnant woman should handle herself, taboos that must be followed by pregnant women and the infants, fortification and procedures which follow when the ceremony of the baby is done and language development from pregnancy and child birth. In this study, the researcher applied the Critical Language Awareness (CLA), Ethnography of Communication and Ethnopragmatics models to best explain the Vhavenḓa cultural practices and discourse in relation to child-aligned language with regards to pregnancy, child-birth and anything associated with a newborn child. Regarding research design, the researcher chose qualitative-ethnography research design because it is more exploratory as it deals with human beings and the environment in which they live. A qualitative research method was utilised in this study. The population was Vhavenḓa elderly women who are knowledgeable about taboos pertaining to pregnancy and childbirth. In this study, purposive and snowball sampling techniques were appropriate since the researcher used her judgement to and snowball sampling were used to sample information from people who have knowledge of the Tshivenḓa language and culture to establish if there is a difference between the language used today and that used in the past. On the subject of data collection tools, the researcher collected qualitative primary data with the aid of interviews and interviews from the social groups including youth, elders, nurses and doctors from various natural research settings in the Vhembe District. Ultimately, the researcher identified various themes and concepts which emanated from the data collection process in line with analytical comparison methods, namely, method of agreement and method of difference. From the research, it was discovered that the Tshivenḓa culture is being undermined and the Western culture is being preferred in modern times. These changes came about when Western and Christian ways of doing things were v followed and African customs were abandoned. Furthermore, this research uncovered that the Tshivenḓa language is being lost while looking at the period from pregnancy until the birth of a child into the world. Most importantly, this research brought forth the knowledge of language used in pregnancy that has been lost; including medicines that are no longer used for purposes of curing during pregnancy, child-birth and the raising of a newborn. / Ngudo ino yo ḓitika kha u sengulusa uri luambo zwe lwa vha lu tshi shumiswa zwone kale lwo ngalangala zwo livhiswa kha muimana u swika a tshi vhofholowa. Musi i tshi ya phanḓa, ṱhoḓisiso iyi i sedza luambo lwa zwiilaila uri ndi luambo lune lu kha ḓivha lune lwa dzhielwa nṱha na musi ho sedzwa ho sedzwa vhuimana na mbebo. Zwine muṱoḓisisi a khou ṱoḓulusa zwone zwi katela zwi tevhelaho: muimana u ḓifarisa hani, zwiilaila zwine zwa tea u tevhedzwa nga muimana na lutshetshe, muthuso na nḓila ine ya tevhelwa musi hu tshi khou itwa vhuṱambo na u sedza luambo lwa muimana lune lwa shumiswa u swikela kha lutshetshe. Kha ṱhoḓisiso iyi muṱoḓisisi o shumisa mutheo wa thyiori dzi tevhelaho: Critical Language Awareness, Ethnography of Communication na Ethnopragmatics u ṱalusa kushumisele kwa mvelele ya Vhavenḓa na luambo malugana na luambo lwa zwilaila, lutshetshe na zwiṅwe zwine zwa elana na u vhofholowa. U ya nga ha tshivhumbeo tsha ṱhoḓisiso na nḓila ya u ṱhoḓisisa muṱoḓisisi o nanga u shumisa ngona ya khwaḽithithethivi nga uri o vha a tshi khou sedzesa kha vhathu na hune vha vha vhe hone. Zwiṱoḓuluswa zwa ṱhoḓisiso iyi ndi vhathu vhahulwane vha Vhavenḓa vhane vha vha na ndivho ya vhuilaila malugana vhuimana na, u vhofholowa. Kha ngudo iyi purposive na snowball sampling techniques hune yo tea u bva muṱoḓisisi o shumisa ndila yawe ya u nanguludza sambula a dovha hafhu a shumisa u vhudzisa muvhudziswa ngae u wana munwe. Kha ndivho ya zwishumiswa zwa u kuvhanganya mafhungo, muṱoḓisisi o kuvhanganya mafhungo o shumisa khwalithithethivi kha tshi khou thusiwa nga ithaviiyu na ithaviuyu u bva kha zwigwada zwo fhambanaho sa vhaswa, vhaluwa, manese na madokotela u bva fhethu ho fhambanaho vhuponi ha ḽiisela ḽa Vhembe. Muṱoḓisisi o topola ndivho na mihumbulo ine ya bva kha mafhungo e a kuvhanganywa ho shumiswa maitele a Analytical Comparison Method ine ya shumisa: Method of agreement na Method of difference.. U bva kha ṱhoḓisiso ho wanala uri mvelele ya Tshivenḓa i khou dzhielwa fhasi, ha dzhielwa ntha mvelele ya vhukovhela . Tshanduko iyi ndi ine yo ḓiswa nga nḓila ine Vhukovhela na vhutendi ha Tshikrisite zwa tshimbidzwa ngayo musi vha tshi tevhedzela maitele a Tshirema. U inga kha izwo, ṱhoḓisiso iyi yo bula uri luambo lwa Tshivenḓa lwo ngalangala musi ro sedza kha muimana u swikela a tshi vhofholowa.Tsha vhuṱhogwa, ṱhoḓisiso iyi yo ḓisa nḓivho ya luambo lune lwa shumiswa kha vhuimana uri lwo ngalangala zwo katela na miuluso ine ya shumiswa kha vhuimani, ṅwana a tshi bebiwa na u alusa lutshetshe. / Linguistics and Modern Languages / D. Litt. et Phil. (Languages, Linguistics and Literature)